


Fun for three

by CrystelMoon



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura is a bitch in this, Awkward Shiro (Voltron), Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Homesick Lance (Voltron), Hurt Lance (Voltron), Insecure Lance (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, M/M, Misunderstandings, Multiple Personalities, My First Fanfic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining Shiro (Voltron), Protective Shiro (Voltron), Secret Relationship, Sharing a Body, Shiro (Voltron) is a Mess, Sorry Not Sorry, Tags Are Hard, Tags May Change, not for long though
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-07-13 12:36:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 36,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16018064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrystelMoon/pseuds/CrystelMoon
Summary: Lance have been keeping a secret, a big secret. One that no one can ever know of, not even his friends.But what happens when he's trapped alone on a planet with Shiro? Will he be found out?And most important;Will he understand?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic, and I don't know how that will go. Also, English isn't my first language, so this is probably really cringy, I might change a lot of stuff, like tags and the summary, I don't know.  
> But please tell me how I did, I would really appreciate that.
> 
> Also, I am extremely bad at updating, so... sorry.

He couldn’t see anything, everything was just black, and not like the normal dark lights of the Black Lion.

 

Shiro groaned quietly as he slowly sat up, there were black spots on his vision, so he shook his head to get them to disappear. That turned out to be a bad idea, as he fought down the urge to vomit all over the dashboard, he doubted Black would like that.

 

Speaking of Black, she wasn’t responding.

 

That quickly got his attention.

 

“Black?” He asked in a very hoarse voice, he coughed to clear it, but it just made it hurt even more.

 

When she didn’t respond, he tried to sit up, which went far too slow for his taste, once he was sitting up he tried to remember what had happened.

 

_“Watch out!”_

 

They had been in a battle, in Voltron, when suddenly a big… weapon of some sorts had fired at them, forcing them apart and into different directions.

 

He was on a planet somewhere, away from everyone else, so if something happened he wouldn’t have Keith to save him, but on the good side, he didn’t have a glowing alien wound this time.

 

Wow… he was not good at cheering himself up.

 

Shiro tried to get out of the seat, which again went a bit to slow, and as soon as he stood up he had to lean against the dashboard as to not fall over.

 

He slowly made his way to the exit of his lion, where he managed to squeeze himself out of the barely open mouth.

 

As soon as he was out he noticed the area around him.

 

The ground had a dark pinkish red color, and the sky was almost the same color as on earth, except it had a slight green tint, the lion had made a small crater which he quickly climbed out of.

 

When he reached the top, he saw that he was surrounded by trees.

 

When he looked up he saw that the slightly red sun was slowly going down, but that wasn’t what caught his attention.

 

What really caught his attention, was the smoke that was coming from over the hill.

 

Was it possible that he wasn’t the only one who had crashed here?

 

As soon as that thought had appeared, he was sprinting towards the smoke.

 

And there it was, the Blue Lion. It had landed on its side, and it was clear that she was going to need a lot of repairs before she was able to fly again.

 

But what worried him the most was how her paladin was doing.

 

“Lance” he whispered, then he sprinted towards the lion, hoping he wasn’t too late.

 

As soon as he was inside the cockpit he saw that the Blue Lion had taken a harder hit than he had.

 

The inside was completely trashed, and there were a few wires hanging from the ceiling.

 

He quickly ran to the seat, which seemed to have loosened itself a bit.

 

There Lance was, and other than the big cut on his forehead and the bruises all over his face and neck, he seemed fine.

 

Shiro released a breath as soon as he was done checking him over for any other wounds.

 

Lance was unconscious, so he gently lifted him into his arms so he could carry him out of the lion.

 

As soon as he was out of the lion, he looked around for any place where he could put lance down into a comfortable position.

 

Not long after, he noticed a cave not too far away.

 

He quickly ran over to the cave and noticed that even though it didn’t seem that big from the outside, it quickly became wider the deeper in he went.

 

Shiro wanted to smack himself because he had forgotten to get something that he could lay Lance down onto.

 

He stood there for a second contemplating what to do, eventually, he gave up and just laid Lance gently on the cold floor.

 

Lance made a small sound when he was laid down, but other than that he didn’t react.

 

Shiro made a silent promise that he would be back, and then ran back to his lion, where he found the emergency kit.

 

He quickly returned to Lance, who hadn’t moved at all since he left, then he found the blanket that was inside the kit, and then rolled Lance onto the blanket.

 

Once he was sure that Lance was comfortable, he let out a long sigh and finally gave himself some time to rest, he hadn’t even noticed how exhausted he was until he wasn’t moving or worried about Lance.

 

Actually, now that he noticed, the sun was almost down and it was starting to get pretty cold.

 

When he looked over at Lance, he could see that he was shivering slightly and that he had a small frown on his face, luckily the blanket was just big enough for Shiro to be able to wrap it all the way around Lance, but it wasn’t enough for him to join him under the blanket.

 

Not like he was going to do that, that would be very inappropriate.

 

Plus it would be very embarrassing if Lance woke up like that.

 

So he did the only other thing he could, he tried to make a fire.

 

But to do that he would have to go outside to find wood, there was stuff inside the emergency kit to help with starting the fire, but he would still need wood to make it.

 

Shiro looked over at Lance who was still fast asleep, he was starting to get worried, could Lance have gotten a concussion during the fall, cause that would be very bad.

 

In the end, he decided that Lance would be fine alone for a few minutes, but he was still going to hurry as much as he could.

 

It took longer than he would have liked, but in the end, he managed to get a big enough stack of wood.

 

The sun had gone down now so he had to be careful where he stepped as to not trip over something that he couldn’t see.

 

When he got back, he wasn’t sure if he was happy or not that Lance hadn’t woken up yet.

 

It was also pretty clear that he was freezing, even through the thick blanket.

 

So he quickly got to making the fire, and after a bit, it started lighting up.

 

 _‘yes’_ he smiled victoriously at his work, but a small groan from Lance quickly averted his attention again.

 

He hurried over to Lance to check what was wrong, but couldn’t find anything, so while he was there he placed his hand on top of his forehead, making sure to avoid the cut.

 

 _‘Good, no fever’_ he noted.

 

You know, this close to Lance he could almost count every freckle on his cheeks. He had never been this close to Lance before, except that time when the castle’s crystal had been blown up, but back then he hadn’t really had time to admire the way that Lance looked.

 

He also hadn’t known him for that long, but now he had gotten to know him, and gotten the chance to become his friend.

 

He frowned slightly at that.

 

He was so occupied with his thoughts that he didn’t even notice when Lance’s eyes started fluttering open, nor did he notice when Lance’s eyes widened slightly at the sight of Shiro so close to his face.

 

And he would definitely deny the small squick that left him when he did notice.

 

And… his hand was still on his forehead.

 

_‘Damit!’_

 

“Uh… Shiro?” Lance asked quietly.

 

He quickly removed his hand and took a step backward.

 

“Sorry!” He said.

 

“Oh uh, it's okay?” Lance still seemed confused, but then he seemed to notice where he was. “Uhm Shiro, where are we?” He winced slightly when he tried to sit up. “What happened?”

 

Shiro helped him up before answering; “What do you last remember?”

 

“Shiro, you can’t answer my question with another question.” Lance sighed, “uhm, we were in a fight… Then we got hit by something… uh.”

 

“And then we got shot into different directions, I just happened to see your lion. And, well… now we're here.” Shiro gestured to the cave that they were in.

 

“…How long have we been here?” Lance asked.

 

“I’m guessing a few hours. While you were out I went out to gather some wood for the fire, but I also had to drag that thing all the way over here.” He gestured to the emergency kit.

 

They were silent for a bit, not sure what to say now.

 

“Sooo… Why were you so close before?”

 

Was his face warm? It was probably because he was sitting so close to the fire.

 

“Oh uh, that… I was just checking if you had a fever. You were out for a while..”

 

“Shiro… I was looking at you for a while before you noticed that I was awake… it doesn't take that long to check if someone has a fever.” Lance deadpanned with a raised brow.

 

“Uhh-” He was cut off by the sound of a rumbling stomach.

 

They both looked at each other.

 

“Was that you?” They said at the same time, which just resulted in them both chuckling.

 

“I guess it was both of us, huh” Lance chuckled.

 

At that moment Shiro couldn’t help but look closer at Lance. In the light from the fire, he really was beautiful.

 

“Yeah, guess it was.”

 

Lance looked at him kinda weirdly because of the soft answer.

 

“So, uh, do we have any food?” Lance asked.

 

Shiro finally snapped out of the trance he had come into, “wait, shouldn't there be some in the emergency kit?”

 

As soon as he said that he regretted it because Lance was trying to get up to get over to the box. Which just ended in him almost passing out again.

 

Shiro quickly went over to the box, so Lance wouldn’t try to do that again. He was both relieved and horrified when he looked into the box.

 

There was indeed food, but there wasn’t a lot. If he shared with Lance (which he, of course, was going to do) it would probably last about two days, give or take.

 

“There is a bit, but definitely not enough if we are going to be here for a while,” He said to Lance.

 

Lance was silent for a bit before he said; “Shiro, Blue should have one too, so we should have a bit more food then.”

 

“Only for about four days. We don't even know if you can digest anything without throwing it back up again.” Shiro turned back towards Lance.

 

Lance was looking down, seemingly realizing the bad situation they were in. Shiro couldn’t help but notice how small he looked at the moment, Shiro never wanted him to look like that again, he wanted to hold him, ~~he wanted to kiss him,~~ to make it better.

 

But he knew he couldn’t do that.

 

It wouldn’t be appropriate…

 

“So… what do we do now?” Lance asked quietly.

 

“Well, considering how much food we have, I say that we wait till tomorrow to eat, that way we’ll save a bit of food.”

 

“Okay…”

 

There that silence was again, it was unsettling to say the least. He looked over at Lance who seemed to be deep in thought, he noticed how Lance furrowed his brows and frowned, before sighing and letting his shoulders drop.

 

“Well, I guess it would be a good idea to get some sleep then, huh?” Lance asked.

 

Shiro looked up, “yeah, I guess it would.”

 

“Don’t look so surprised that I said that.” Lance said with a small pout.

 

“Sorry, sorry.” Shiro quickly said, as he raised both hands, with a smug smile on, and eyes, that were saying that he wasn’t the slightest bit sorry.

 

Lance gave a small smile back, before raising the blanket slightly, a silent invitation.

 

Shiro’s eyes widened slightly, before he shook his head, “no, you get some rest”

 

Lance rolled his eyes, “Shiro, even with the fire, you’re going to freeze, and I doubt that you could both find Blue and the blanket in her, so get your butt over here or i’ll drag you over here myself.”

 

He couldn't help but smile slightly, “Lance, you can’t even sit up, how were you planning on dragging my butt all the way over there and under the blanket?”

 

“I don't know, I just know that I wouldn't give up before you’re over here.” To show that he was being serious, he started to sit up.

 

Shiro was there before he could blink. “Woah, hey there, don’t do that.”

 

“Good, NOW COME HERE.” Lance grabbed his collar and pulled him down, earning a squeak in surprise from Shiro.

 

And to avoid, squishing Lance he rolled to the side so he was laying next to him.

 

Lance didn’t say anything as he made sure that the blanket was covering them both completely.

 

“There,” Lance looked proudly at his work, even though all he had done was wrap the blanket around them both. “Now, goodnight.” And then turned onto his side and went right to sleep.

 

 _‘Did he actually fall asleep?_ He thought, _‘he’s probably embarrassed that he’s technically sleeping with his leader, NOT SLEEPING WITH, but like sharing a bed, not… that. Damit.’_

 

He could feel his face burning, and he was glad that Lance was facing the other way.

 

He tried to ignore what was going on in his head and instead did what Lance did, he turned on his side, and tried to ignore the heat from the body lying next to him.

 

Not long after he could hear Lance’s breathing slow, happy that Lance was finally asleep, he needed all the rest he could.

 

Lying there he couldn't help but think about the rest of the team and how they were doing, had Allura and Coran already found them?

 

Soon he could feel his eyelids becoming heavy, and before he knew of it, everything went dark.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, remember when I said that I was bad at updating? Well, now I have a system so I should be able to update every Monday.
> 
> Also, this is the most boring chapter in the history of boring chapters, so I’ll be posting the next chapter (which I already finished) on Wednesday!
> 
> And the last thing I have to say before I’ll let you read the chapter, is that I want to make longer chapters but if I try to make them longer, then I’ll just lose interest in the story quicker. So to prevent me from losing interest and becoming stressed (I get stressed very easily), every chapter will be around 2000 words long.
> 
> That's also why I’ll update every Monday instead of multiple times a week.

Shiro felt like he was going to die.

 

Nope scratch that, he was screwed.

 

During the time that they had been asleep they had apparently been moving, and now he was scooping Lance.

 

 _‘God this is bad’_ he thought and shifted a bit, hoping to make a bit more room between them.

 

That was when he realized that they had fallen asleep in their armor.

 

How did he not notice that before!

 

Probably because before he hadn’t been sore all over!

 

He couldn't help but let out a sigh, which he quickly regretted when Lance moved slightly in his sleep.

 

And… now they were completely pressed together.

 

He was just lying there silently panicking, as Lance continued to snore like nothing was happening.

 

 _‘Okay, that's it’_ he thought as he decided to get up, hopefully before Lance could wake up.

 

Turned out it was harder than he first thought…

 

Their legs were completely tangled together, and Lance was also lying on his flesh arm that was wrapped around him, which was slowly going numb.

 

But the worst part was that Lance was completely pressed against him, like, completely, even in some pretty inappropriate areas.

 

He stiffened when Lance moved again, now so he could see his face slightly, which revealed blue eyes slowly blinking open.

 

It took a bit, but eventually, they seemed to focus on Shiro’s face, and when it did, well, it was pretty clear that Lance was also silently freaking out.

 

Suddenly He jumped away from him, which startled Shiro, Lance suddenly started stuttering as his face became all flushed.

 

“W-what was- you can't just… T-that- that was. Not. Okay.” He yelled as he waved his arms around.

 

He wasn’t sure what kind of reaction he had expected, but this actually surprised him, Lance had seemed fine with him sleeping the same place yesterday, but yesterday he was tired and had probably hit his head, plus he hadn’t been that close yesterday.

 

Lance was finally done rambling and was now pouting with crossed arms. Still very red-faced.

 

“I’m sorry, guess I really shouldn't have been sleeping that close, I have a habit of grabbing onto stuff that's close to me when I sleep” he chuckled slightly, “I’ll just sleep further away next time,” he said sadly.

 

That caused Lance to blink and whip his head towards Shiro “wait, I’m sorry I didn’t mean it like that, I just… You just kinda scared me, that's all.” It sounded like there was more to it than that, but he didn’t say anything.

 

“Okay… but I’m still going to sleep somewhere else now that we can go down and get the other blanket” Shiro gestured to the opening where they could see that the sun was slowly rising.

 

He didn’t notice the small frown on Lance’s face as he looked towards the opening.

 

“Hey then you can get your blanket back again,” Lance said as he lifted the blanket a bit.

 

“Lance, they’re the exact same” Shiro eyed, Lance.

 

“Oh,” Lance said as he looked down at the thick dark gray blanket.

 

Then Shiro was reminded that they hadn’t had breakfast when his stomach decided it wanted to have a say as well.

 

He looked over at Lance who was looking at him with a raised brow.

 

“Guess it’s time for breakfast then huh?” Shiro asked with a small chuckle.

 

Before Lance could respond Shiro was walking over to the box with supplies.

 

He pulled out a bit of food, it was some kind of canned food goo that apparently couldn’t get too old, even after 10,000 years it was still like it was back then.

 

He had tasted it before as for some reason, he as the leader had to make sure it was still good, even though Coran had just confirmed that it was fine, he was pretty sure that the Alteans just enjoyed watching him gag on it.

 

(They had been told that Alteans were a peaceful species, but in reality, they were evil!)

 

The goo didn’t taste like the normal goo, it actually didn’t taste like anything, it was more like you were eating slime but also dust but separate, it was weird and pretty disgusting.

 

It seemed like Lance agreed on that when he returned with the goo. Somehow he had actually managed to sit up without Shiro’s help, something that made him smile, it was good that he was feeling better than he had yesterday.

 

but still, It was hilarious to watch Lance gag on the food and then look at him like he was a god because he somehow wasn't gagging.

 

“How do you do that?” He asked in wonder.

 

“How do I do what?” Shiro said innocently.

 

Lance just gave him an annoyed look, before looking away with an annoyed blush on his face.

 

What was with him blushing so much today?

 

They quickly finished the goo and then decided that they should go to blue.

 

Or, well, Shiro was going to go, but Lance had thrown a fit when he was told that he should stay there, he had to see how Blue was doing.

 

So, in the end, they had decided that Shiro would help Lance down to Blue, much to Lance’s annoyance.

 

Lance had tried to stand up and almost succeeded, but he was swaying dangerously, so Shiro had jumped in to help steady him. He expected Lance to get annoyed at him again, or maybe blush, or both, but instead he got a grateful smile instead.

 

This is nice. Lance pressed against him and smiling up at him.

 

They would probably have gotten there quicker if it wasn't for Lance who was constantly trying to bear his own weight, which ended up in them almost falling multiple times.

 

Finally, they got there, and it wasn’t very pretty, it looked worse now that he had a clear head.

 

It was heartbreaking to see how Lance’s face became so sad when he saw Blue.

 

And before he could react, Lance was stumbling out of his hold and trying to get to Blue.

 

He was surprisingly fast even when he was barely holding his own weight.

 

“Wait, Lance!” He yelled and started running after him.

 

He managed to get there just as Lance reached Blue, and collapsed onto her side where he slid down until he was hiding his face between himself and Blue.

 

Shiro stood there for a bit just looking at the scene in front of him not sure what to do before he slowly walked over to where Lance sat.

 

“Hey. You know it’s not your fault, right?” He said softly.

 

“I know, it’s just. She’s my lion you know? I kinda feel responsible” Lance lifted his head slightly so he could look at Shiro.

 

Shiro smiled sadly “yeah, I know how that feels.”

 

They sat there for a bit enjoying the silence. Lance sighed before raising his head fully, “well, let's go grab those supplies then huh.”

 

Shiro was slightly surprised that Lance recovered so quickly. “You know, how about you stay out here while I go grab them?”

 

Lance suddenly looked mad again, “what? No! I'm going with you.”

 

“No- Lance not like that, I meant that you could stay here and tal- wait, is Blue even responding?” He should probably have asked that first.

 

“Yeah, but it's weak. You know when you can hear someone that's kinda far away from you? It's like that” Lance responded.

 

“Okay, what I meant was that you could stay out here and talk to Blue,” he said.

 

Lance’s expression turned into one of understanding, “oh…”

 

“Yeah, is that okay with you?”

 

“Yeah sure.” Lance said with a small smile, “thank you, Shiro.”

 

He could feel himself start to flush, so before Lance could see anything he turned around and walked into Blue.

 

It was just as much of a mess as the last time he had been there, but now that he could think completely clear, he noticed small things that he didn’t before.

 

Like the small smudge of red on the dashboard that he was trying really hard to ignore.

 

He quickly went to the back of the lion and found the box, then he took it outside where Lance seemed to be deep in thought.

 

Shiro knew how deep in thought you could really get when communicating with his lion, it must be harder when your lion was so weak.

 

He put the box down, trying to be as quiet as he could, as to not disturb Lance.

 

Then he went over and gently nudged his shoulder, knowing how easy it was to break the connection (that was one of the reasons why he decided to leave Lance outside).

 

“Hey, Lance?” Lance’s eyes fluttered open before breaking into a small smile at the sight of Shiro.

 

“Hey Shiro,” he said quietly and it shocked him how vulnerable he looked at the moment.

 

But then Lance shook his head almost like he was trying to shake something off, “well you’re back, so should we move back to the cave to check if everything is intact?”

 

What was with him lately, it was almost like Lance was more logical then he was sometimes.

 

“Oh, uh, sure.”

 

They quickly moved back to the cave, Lance needed Shiro’s help again, but at least he wasn’t complaining anymore.

 

When they got back they both sat down next to the fire which had gone out a while ago, and then they both sated looking through the box to check if everything was intact.

 

Most of the things didn’t seem to have taken too much damage, the cans were a bit squashed but other than that seemed fine, and the other blanket was fine, except for a small tear in the corner.

 

“So what now?” Lance asked as he looked over at Shiro.

 

Honestly? He had no idea.

 

“I guess I could go look for more firewood for tonight” Shiro suggested.

 

“Can I come?” Lance asked with a hopeful expression.

 

Shiro eyed Lance with an uncertain look, “uh…”

 

Lance’s face fell, “oh right, guess I would be more in the way then I would be helping.”

 

Shiro wanted to say that it wasn’t true, but he knew that it was, if he took Lance with him, he would have to help him all the way, but he wouldn’t be able to do that if he also had to gather wood.

 

Lance seemed to know what he was thinking as he looked down with a sad expression.

 

Shiro just barely noticed that a piece of hair that fell over one of Lance’s eyes making him appear smaller.

 

“Sorry, I’ll be right back” he promised as he stood up.

 

Right before he left, he looked back at Lance just to see him muttering something to himself. Shiro couldn’t hear what it was, but he guessed that it was about how annoying it was that he couldn’t help more.

  


When he came back he could see that it was clear that Lance was really bored, he was currently counting all the cracks in the wall.

 

“Hey, I’m back!” He shouted, succeeding in scaring Lance.

 

“Shiro!” Lance shouted back, “you scared the crap out of me!”

 

Shiro chuckled, “sorry,” he said, not sounding sorry at all.

 

Lance pouted and it was the cutest thing ever.

 

Lance was going to kill him at this point.

 

He shook his head and instead went over to put the slightly red wood onto the ground next to the fire.

 

Then he turned towards Lance again he was meet with curious blue eyes.

 

He hoped Lance couldn’t see how his face became scarlet.

 

After that, they just kinda talked about random stuff, their families, hobbies they had back on earth, and if Coran and Allura had any luck with finding the others.

 

“I’m sure they’ll find us soon, don't worry” Shiro had said when they had talked about if they would find them soon.

 

“Yeah, let's hope they do…” Lance had responded quietly.

 

The rest of the day passed slowly, they didn’t really have anything to do, so Shiro had gone out to see if there were any fruits nearby to when they would run out of food.

 

And he did find something, all the way up in one of the tall trees… he hoped Lance would be fine soon so he could climb up there because there was no way that he was ever coming up there.

 

And on the way back he had fallen over a bush full of some kind of berries, literally.

 

He had scanned them with his helmet to check if they were safe, and was happy when it said that they were.

 

He decided to take a few back with him, hoping that they would maybe cheer Lance up a bit.

 

He didn’t seem to like being stuck on bed rest, or, blanket rest actually.

 

And luckily they did, Lance even confirmed that they tasted like some kind of cherry chocolate.

 

Shiro was happy that even in this dark situation, Lance managed to stay cheerful, even though he had seemed pretty sad before, which still kinda confused him.

 

But in the end, the day went fine, Shiro was still worried that they might not be alone on this planet, it just seemed too empty to be true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should probably read through the chapters before I post them… oh well, let's just hope that there aren't any mistakes…


	3. Chapter 3

The next two days went slowly, but at least Lance was able to walk without help or without feeling dizzy, but Shiro still hadn't allowed him to try to climb the trees to get the fruit, and now Lance was starting to get really annoyed. They needed that fruit!

 

So for a whole hour now Lance had been begging Shiro to let him try.

 

“If you don't let me, then I’ll just do it on my own, and then you won't be there to catch me if I fall” Lance was saying, and that was the final straw.

 

“Okay fine, but I have to be there, you are not going on your own.”

 

“You got it boss man!” Lance shouted as he sprinted towards the closest tree.

 

Shiro quickly ran after him. It was nice that lance was up and running around being the happy boy that Shiro had come to know ~~and love~~. But it wasn’t very fun to have to always run after him to make sure that Lance didn’t run off and do something stupid.

 

“Wait, Lance” too late, Lance was already going up. “Lance!”

 

“Sorry Shiro, but you gave me permission” was shouted back down to him.

 

Shiro just sighed and decided to watch Lance to make sure that nothing happened.

 

_‘That's a very nice ass.’_

 

He really shouldn't be thinking that… but it was a nice ass- nope!

 

Meanwhile, Lance was almost at the top, it had rained the other day, so he had to be careful so he wouldn’t slip.

 

He looked down at Shiro who was looking up at him, and when Shiro noticed that he was looking down at him, he sent him a sheepish smile.

 

Lance sent him a big one back, wondering why he looked slightly red, maybe it was the light, he was pretty high up so he couldn’t see it that clearly.

 

Then he turned towards the closest fruit and started to climb towards it.

 

It was some kind of mixture of a pear and a coconut, but it was a weird yellow color, it honestly didn’t look very appetizing, but that wouldn’t be important when they ran out of food.

 

He reached out to pluck it, and he barely touched it before it fell off the branch.

 

He was startled, not having expected it to be so loose.

 

He wasn’t fast enough to catch it, so it fell down towards the ground, down towards _Shiro_.

 

He quickly looked down, just in time to see Shiro step out of the way, as the fruit hit the ground and… apparently didn’t crack at all.

 

Shiro looked up at him, “are you okay?”

 

“Yeah, it just startled me” he yelled back, “but hey, at least we now know how to get them down.”

 

Shiro flushed slightly at that, he hadn't even thought of how they were going to get them down.

 

after Lance was much more prepared for how to lose they were, and while he crawled around and poked to them so they would fall down, Shiro was walking around underneath the tree and was collecting all of the fruits.

 

After a bit, Shiro was going to call up to Lance that they had enough for now.

 

Lance who was humming to himself, while he was jumping around, was so startled when he heard Shiro call, that his grip slipped slightly on the slippery branch.

 

Luckily he managed to grab onto another one before he could fall.

 

“Are you okay?!” He heard Shiro call up to him.

 

“Yeah, you just startled me” he shouted back down to him.

 

He slowly crawled down noticing that it was much harder to get back down than it had to get up.

 

It went slower than he had liked, but eventually, he was half way down, and that was when he decided that he was far enough down.

 

He looked down at Shiro who was looking up at him while holding all the weird fruits, “hey Shiro, catch!”

 

And then he jumped.

 

Shiro was quick to react, he instantly dropped all of the fruits and reached out so he could catch Lance.

 

Luckily he just managed to catch Lance, but he slammed into him so hard that Shiro just barely managed to keep standing.

 

After that, he looked down at Lance who was giggling like crazy. He couldn’t stop the blush that started to creep up the back of his neck.

 

Then Lance opened his eyes and looked up at Shiro, and his face was slowly becoming red as well as he noticed how close they're faces were to each other.

 

Shiro couldn’t handle this, they were so close, if he just leaned forward a bit then he could…

 

He quickly shook his head trying to get the thought to disappear, but it just wouldn’t.

 

To make sure he didn’t do something he would regret later, he quickly put Lance down, and then started to pick up the fruits that he had dropped.

 

He froze for a second when he saw that Lance was looking down at the ground with a sad expression, but then he shook it of and continued with his task.

 

After he had picked them all up again, he looked up just to see that lance had picked a few up as well.

 

Shiro smiled slightly at him, hoping to ease the embarrassing moment a bit.

 

He cleared his throat before speaking “so, I guess we should get back to the cave with these then.”

 

Lance nodded. “And then we should probably check if they are even edible.” Lance’s eyes widened slightly at that, he hadn't even thought of that.

 

So they walked back to the cave in silence.

 

When they got back they quickly got to work with scanning the fruit. Turned out that they weren’t poisonous (thank god) but also that they had an extremely thick armor or something like that around it, so to crack it they would need a rock (and Shiro’s strong arms, as Lance had said).

 

After finding a big enough rock, Shiro started to crack one up, they had decided, that they might as well try one now and see what it tasted like.

 

The inside was edible, but it kinda startled Shiro when some kind of yellowish white liquid came out of the hole he had made in it.

Lance was quick to react as he scooped the fruit out of Shiro’s hands and then pulled it up to his mouth where he started to lick at the hole, so nothing was wasted.

 

Shiro would instantly deny it if anyone asked if something was wrong, because if anyone found out what that really did to him, then he wasn’t sure that he could live with himself out of pure embarrassment.

 

Finally, Lance was done with licking out the juice, and Shiro’s heart felt like it stopped for a few seconds when he saw that Lance’s face was covered in white liquid, it almost looked like-

 

Nope, not going there.

 

Lance made a disgusted face “it tastes like sea water, gross…”

 

Shiro couldn't help but chuckle “well, maybe the inside doesn't taste that bad.”

 

“Doubt it, if the juice tastes like that then the inside probably tastes like that too.”

 

“It’s worth a try,” Shiro said as he took back the fruit, then he smashed it into two. Ignoring Lance’s whistle, he took a piece of the fruit’s meat of and then took a bite.

 

He could slightly taste the sea water, but if he ignored that then it tasted like… broccoli?

 

He looked over at Lance who had taken a bite as well, and then they just kinda stared at each other for a bit, that was definitely not what they had expected.

 

“So… should we like, call it a vegetable instead?” Lance asked.

 

Shiro just raised a brow “a vegetable that grows on trees… wow.”

 

Lance barked out a laugh at that.

  
  


The next day started like any other, They got up, they ate breakfast, and then they decided that they should probably explore the planet some more, to see if there was anyone else there, because it just couldn’t be true that the only other life on this planet was plant life.

 

“Should we split up?” Lance asked Shiro as they walked through the big forest.

 

“No, we should stay together that way we can help each other if something happened” Shiro responded.

 

“Yeah but, if we split up we could find something quicker,” Lance said again.

 

Shiro sighed, “Lance, we should stick together.”

 

Lance looked away as he realised that he had lost the fight “fine.”

 

Shiro gave him a look out of the corner of his eyes.

 

They continued in silence for a bit, or well, that was until they heard something step on a twig.

 

As soon as the sound reached Shiro’s ears he activated his arm and turned towards the area that it had come from.

 

He could hear Lance activate his bayard behind him.

 

After a few seconds of nothing moving, they shared a look before shiro slowly started to edge towards the bush that the sound had come from.

 

“Hey, is anyone there?” He asked, hoping that it was just inhabitants that they had captured the interest of.

 

He paused when the bush rustled slightly again.

 

He looked back at Lance who stood ready with his bayard if they weren't friendly.

 

And it was just at that moment that whatever had been in that bush had decided it was going to attack, he could see Lance expression turn to one of horror before he was suddenly pinned to the ground by something huge.

 

He looked back up, just to see a huge creature of some sorts, it was like a big completely black wolf, expect it was so huge that it's paw covered his entire chest. It had long fangs as well as a big row of very sharp teeth. As it opened its mouth, Shiro noticed that the skin on it's cheeks seemed to be missing, doing so that you could see it's teeth even when it's mouth was closed.

 

Glowing green eyes with slit pupils was glaring down at him, and he was frozen with fear as it looked like it was about to devour him.

 

But suddenly It was being shot at. Lance!

 

Then he noticed  that the shots hadn't done anything except make the creature even more angry as it turned its attention towards Lance instead.

 

Shiro looked up as well, just as the creature leaped at lance, he shot at it again before deciding that it would be best to run instead.

 

He managed to run over to a place that they hadn’t been before, meaning he had no idea that the ground would just suddenly drop, and before he knew it he was rolling down instead of running.

 

As soon as he reached the bottom he looked up just to see the creature running down the hill. He quickly got up and ran.

 

Meanwhile, Shiro was scrambling to get up as he watched the creature chase Lance, he had to help.

 

Lance was running out of time, he knew it as he could hear the creature catching up to him.

 

He looked back for a second and what he saw was straight out of a horror movie, the thing was sprinting at him at full speed, while it's mouth was open allowing him to get a good view of all the sharp teeth.

 

Lance barely noticed that he had somehow managed to get out of the forest, and that he now was in some kind of cliff area.

 

There were big rocks sticking out of the ground which was slightly sandy.

 

But he did notice when he was suddenly pushed into a corner, he was trapped.

 

As soon as he reached the wall that was in the way, he turned around to stare at the giant creature that was now slowly creeping towards him, knowing that it's prey was trapped.

 

Lance looked around hoping to find a way that he could maybe climb out, but there was nothing.

 

Suddenly Shiro jumped out from a pile of rocks and charged at the creature with a glowing arm.

 

He swung down hoping that his arm at least would do some damage.

 

It didn't… it only left a small burn, but nowhere near enough to really hurt the creature. The only thing that it did was to anger it even more.

 

His face changed into one of fear for a second before he was thrown away with a big paw. The claws managed to scratch him in the abdomen as well.

 

Lance who had tried to sneak away while the creature was busy, then noticed how it's attention went back to being on him so he did what every other person would have done, he ran.

 

And only a few feet away, the creature had already managed to get in front of him which he hadn’t been able to see until it was too late.

 

Just like it had done with Shiro, it used it's huge paw to throw him away, except this time it threw him into the rocks, causing him to let out a pained gasp when the back of his head collided with the rocks.

 

The last thing he noticed was the pain and the feeling of something wet running down from the back of his head, before everything went dark.

  


Shiro saw the second that lance passed out, and he also saw when the creature started to walk over to him again.

 

That was when he did something stupid, he started to throw rocks at it, hoping to catch it's attention.

 

And after a few throws that it had just shaken off, one finally hit it in the head.

 

But Shiro’s victory was short lived when the creature turned its head towards him with bared teeth and a growl crawling up its throat.

 

He willed himself to stand stand still as it ran towards him, and first at the last moment, he jumped to the side, so the creature ran straight into the pile of rocks behind him.

 

It shook its head, and then turned it towards Shiro again.

 

Only for it to be crushed under a big boulder that had fallen down when it ran into the rocks keeping it up.

 

Shiro stood there for a second trying to calm his heart down, when suddenly he remembered Lance.

 

“Lance!”

 

He quickly ran over to where Lance was lying unmoving and silent.

 

As soon as he got over to him, Shiro quickly rolled Lance over so he cradled his head in his lap.

 

He could feel something drip onto his lap, and was horrified when he noticed the blood.

 

He quickly reached for Lance’s neck hoping to find a pulse, and he almost passed out from relief when he found one.

 

As gently as he could he picked Lance up bridal style, and then hurried back to the cave trying not to jostle Lance too much.

 

God he hoped Lance would be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promised you a chapter didn't I?
> 
>  
> 
> You know, when ever I post a chapter I always forget what happens in it, that's pretty bad isn't it?


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uh… I know that there's a whole week till I have to post the next chapter, but… I’m kinda stuck, I’m not sure what I should write next, I already know (kinda) where the story plot is going, but it’s the things between that are the problem.
> 
> I’m still going to try and see if I can continue or if I have to start the chapter over, but I will get another chapter out on Monday, I promise.

As soon as Shiro had returned to the cave, he had quickly laid Lance down on one of the blankets and bundled the other one up so Lance could use it as a pillow.

 

After he had checked if Lance had broken anything (which he luckily hadn’t), he just kinda sat there anxiously, waiting for Lance to wake up.

 

A few hours had passed, and while Lance had stayed asleep he had gone out to gather some more wood for when the sun would go down again, he also made sure to be more on guard now that he knew what could be hiding in between the trees.

 

The next morning when Shiro woke up, he wasn’t sure why but for some reason he decided that it would be a good idea to reach out to where he knew Lance would be sleeping.

 

Except… Lance wasn’t there.

 

As soon as he realized this, he was instantly more awake. The place where Lance was supposed to be was not only empty but also cold, meaning that Lance had left a while ago.

 

after a quick look around revealed that he wasn't hiding anywhere around in the cave, he ran outside hoping to find some kind of clue as to where lance could have gone.

 

He found nothing.

 

At this point, he was pretty much just running around in the woods screaming Lance’s name.

 

So when Lance suddenly appeared in front of him hanging upside down from a branch, he couldn’t help but let out a (manly) scream.

 

Lance was laughing so hard that he looked seconds away from falling down from the branch.

 

“Lance, what are you doing, I almost had a heart attack when I realized that you were gone!” Shiro waved his arms around, hoping to make his point clear.

 

Lance’s amused smile suddenly turned into a frown, it was so sudden that Shiro took a step back.

 

“Why did you give me the other blanket, you needed that… and why did my head hurt so much when I woke up! Did something happen to Lance!?” He was shouting at this point.

 

“Uh… what?” Shiro wasn't sure what was happening, why was Lance talking about himself like that? “Uh Lance, maybe you should get down from there, then we'll talk okay?”

 

Lance was glaring at him which was making him very uncomfortable, but in the end, he did get down on the ground, still glaring at him. “Now, talk.”

 

“Maybe we should get back to the cave firs-” “No! We want answers now!” Lance cut him off.

 

_‘Why is he talking about himself like he’s multiple people?’_

 

“Okay, I’ll tell you” he finally said, “You did get hurt-” “What! Who did it? I want to destroy them” Lance cut him off again.

 

“I was getting to that point… we were attacked by some kind of animal, it chased you over to a more rocky area where it managed to knock you into some rocks so you hit your head and passed out. Then I managed to trick it, so it was crushed by a boulder” he explained quickly.

 

Lance was silent for a second, “it deserved worse.”

 

Shiro was seriously starting to get scared of Lance, what had that hit done to him?

 

“Yeah… but it’s dead now, probably being eaten by insects right now” he said, he had to find some way to distract Lance, because he wasn't sure how much more he could take of him acting like this.

 

“So, uh, you’re probably really hungry, you were out for a while” he took a step in the direction of the cave, hoping that Lance would follow him.

 

“Yeah, guess I am…”

 

“Then come on, we have some food in the cave” Shiro took another step back, this time Lance followed him.

 

_‘Yes!’_

 

They slowly made their way back to the cave, Shiro making sure to keep an eye on Lance.

 

As soon as they got back to the cave, Lance flopped down onto his blanket and threw the other on at him, Shiro grabbed it before it could hit him in the face.

 

And as soon as he saw Lance’s glare, he quickly went over to grab one of the fruits, luckily there was one already cracked open so he quickly grabbed it and brought it back to Lance so he could eat.

 

He expected Lance to still be glaring when he came back, so he was shocked when he saw that Lance was fiddling with a strand of hair that had fallen over one of his eyes. He had such a soft and shy expression on his face that Shiro had to look away for a second.

 

He collected himself and walked over to Lance who startled when he noticed Shiro.

 

Shiro didn’t say anything as he handed Lance the fruit, “hi…” Shiro startled slightly when Lance spoke.

 

“Uh, what?” _‘Wow, super intelligent Shiro…’_

 

Lance chuckled slightly at that, “I said hi.”

 

“Oh, uh, hi?” What was going on right now?

 

Lance stayed quiet after that and instead began eating. Meanwhile, Shiro was just sitting there awkwardly not knowing what to do.

 

“So uh… are you feeling better?” Shiro asked, but he furrowed his brows when Lance just looked at him confused, “what?”

 

“You know, after the hit you took you should probably have a pretty big headache.” Did he forget again?

 

“Oh uh,” he still looked confused, “I’m feeling better?”

 

“Okay,” Shiro responded slowly, “that's good.”

 

There was silence for a bit, the only sound being Lance eating. “So uh, where are we?” Shiro startled at the question.

 

“Oh, well… I don't really know anything other than that we crashed on this planet, I don't even know the name” Shiro gave a slightly forced chuckle.

 

“Okay” Lance replied quietly.

 

He looked so vulnerable that Shiro had to hold himself back from giving him a hug.

 

“But uh, other than that wolf creature thing, we seem to be the only ones on this planet.” He wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.

 

He jumped slightly when Lance suddenly scoffed with a mocking expression, “yeah because that's just absolutely great,” he said sarcastically, “who do you think is going to go crazy first?”

 

_‘Probably you, your already a good way to insanity’_

 

“Uh, what?” He said dumbly.

 

“You heard me you piece of crap! were both trapped on his stupid planet and were never going to get out of here and were both going to die!” Lance shouted.

 

“I would like for the quiet one to come back please…” Shiro said so quietly that he wouldn’t hear it.

 

“Listen, Lance, we're not going to die Allura and Coran are probably on their way right now.” He tried to calm Lance down.

 

“Lance?” Lance asked with a confused expression, “he’s still ‘asleep’, that hit on the head must have been pretty bad.”

 

Now Shiro definitely didn’t know what to say, “uh, w-what?”

 

“Lance is ‘sleeping’, I’m Tuyan” Lance- no, Tuyan said.

 

“…”

 

Shiro stood up and decided that he needed a break from all of this, so he went outside to get some air.

 

 _‘I’m gonna have completely white hair by the time Allura and Coran find us’_ Shiro thought.

 

A few minutes passed before he heard something behind him, “uh, why did you leave?” Lance-Tuyan said.

 

Shiro smacked himself in the face, ignoring Tuyans weird look, “I’m sorry, this is just really weird,” he confessed, “uh, so when will Lance ‘wake up’?”

 

Tuyan's eyes widened slightly at that, “Uh, well… I’m not sure…”

 

Shiro turned towards him, “what do you mean you don't know!?”

 

Tuyan suddenly became defensive, “hey, don't yell at me, how am I supposed to know!?”

 

“For god's sake, you live in the same body!” Shiro shouted, “you are Lance!”

 

“No, I’m not, I hate when people say that, we are two completely different people!” He shouted back, “and we don't just live in the same body!”

 

Shiro groaned, “whatever, soon you’ll be gone and lance will be back so it doesn't matter.” He turned away.

 

“you do realize that even when Lance comes back, I’ll still be here…” Tuyan said quietly and Shiro couldn't help but look over his shoulder, just to take a step back when he saw his hurt expression.

 

“I don't get why the others like you…” then he turned tail and ran into the forest.

 

“Wait, Lan-Tuyan!” Shiro ran after him, but he was already gone.

 

Shiro ran around for a bit hoping to find Tuyan, but with no luck, “fuck!”

  


By the time the sun was about to go down, Shiro still hadn't found Tuyan, so now he was just siding on top of a hill looking at the sun that was slowly but surely going down.

 

A while ago he had decided that the second he found Tuyan he would instantly apologize, he had just been so stressed and tired about everything.

 

He tensed as soon as he heard a twig break under the weight of something. Was it another one of the wolf creatures?

 

He quickly turned around with his arm glowing ready to strike if it was. What he didn’t expect was for it to be Tuyan.

 

“Tuyan-” “you made Tuyan really upset,” He cut him off, his expression was angry but there was a certain vulnerability to it that Tuyan didn’t have.

 

“What? Lance?” “He really hates when people say something like that, Lance and I told him so many times that you wouldn’t say something like that, but I guess we were wrong.”

 

“Wha-” he shook his head, he was done asking that. “I'm, really sorry… could you say that to him?” Shiro wasn't sure how all of this worked, but it was clear that this wasn’t Lance or Tuyan.

 

“He heard.”

 

Shiro nodded, not sure what to say now. “So uh, what's your name?” He grimaced.

 

He got a raised brow in response, “my name is Avel.”

 

Shiro nodded in response, Avel must have been the quiet one from before since Tuyan didn’t seem to be so quiet.

 

“So uh, I guess you’re like Tuyan?” Shiro asked, “you know, with the whole, sharing a body thing.”

 

“Yeah… I guess, though it's more complicated than that” Avel said, he was slowly getting quieter and seemed to get shyer, or was he uncomfortable?

 

“I’m sorry, do you not like us talking about this?” Shiro asked, worried if he should even have asked.

 

Avel looked up at that with a panicking look, “No! I-I mean” he looked down, “I’m sorry it's not that, I just…” he looked away biting his lip.

 

“You just what?” Shiro asked kindly.

 

“I’m just not that good with people, and you just… I guess I’m just” Avel sighed, finally giving up on trying to say whatever it was that he had wanted to say.

 

“Hey, it's okay,” Shiro said, it was clear that Avel wasn’t that good with putting his thoughts into words.

 

They stood a bit in silence before Shiro had enough and waved Avel over to sit with him on the hill, Avel looked behind himself before pointing at himself with a questioning look.

 

Shiro chuckled and nodded, “who else would I be gesturing to?”

 

Avel flushed slightly before going over and sitting down next to him, Shiro couldn’t help but notice that Avel sat a bit further away than Lance would have when he was sitting next to someone else.

 

They just sat there in silence and enjoyed the view, it was nice.

 

But then Shiro thought about the hurt expression that Tuyan made after Shiro had said that it didn’t matter and that Lance would be back soon, he had really made it sound like he didn’t care about Tuyan.

Of course, all of this was confusing and when Lance ‘came back’ he would have to talk to him about all of this, but still.

 

“Avel, I’m not sure how all of this works… but I would like to talk to Tuyan.”

 

It was quiet, and in the end, Shiro couldn’t take it anymore so he turned towards Avel, just to find him glaring at him, in the very short time that he had known Avel, it didn’t seem like he was able to look like that, so that could only mean one thing…

 

“Tuyan?” He asked, and the glare only deepened.

 

“Yeah…” Tuyan said.

 

He looked surprised when Shiro suddenly jumped over and pulled him into a hug, and it took longer than he liked before Tuyan finally wrapped his arms around him as well.

 

“I’m _so_ sorry Tuyan, I shouldn't have said that, it was just so confusing at first and I didn't know how to react and I just-” “Hey, shh it's okay, I get it” Tuyan cut off his rambling, “it's confusing at first and you’re not sure how to react, all of that's normal, you actually reacted better than most people have, some try to give us medicine or find a therapist, there was even this one time where there was someone that wanted to lock us up.

 

_‘Most people? Have this happened before?’_

 

Shiro still had a lot of questions, but he decided that he could wait with them until he could talk to Lance.

 

But for now he should probably get Tuyan and Avel back to the cave since it looked like they were about to fall asleep right there, but they did get up pretty early plus the hit to the head must have something to do with it as well.

 

So he helped them back to the cave, at some point even having to pick them up because they passed out.

 

He nearly tripped over a few branches and holes in the ground, because he couldn't see anything in the dark, but eventually he made it back to the cave and laid them down on the blanket.

 

He contemplated if he should give them the other blanket as well, but then remembered what happened earlier where they got mad at him for giving them the other blanket as well, so in the end, he decided that he didn’t want another lecture.

 

And right before he fell asleep he hoped that in the morning everything would be normal again, though he wouldn't mind spending more time with Avel and Tuyan.


	5. Chapter 5

Shiro could feel something poking to his cheek, he scrunched his face up and turned on his side, ready to go back to sleep and hoping that whatever it was that was waking him up would leave again.

 

It didn’t.

 

He heard a sigh before it grabbed his shoulders and started shaking him.

 

“-iro, Shiro, wake up.”

 

Finally, he opened his eyes, and then came face to face with Lance, or was it?

 

He looked closer but couldn’t tell who it was, actually now that he thought about it, he kinda looked like…

 

“Lance?”

 

Lance smiled, “morning Shiro.”

 

And before Shiro could think closer about it, he was hugging Lance, “you’re back!”

 

“Uh yeah?” Lance asked confused, but he didn’t deny the hug so that was something, “I never left?”

 

Shiro pulled back and looked at Lance, “you don't remember anything?” He asked.

 

“What? Am I missing something?”

 

Shiro sighed, now he would have to explain it again, so he did just that, starting with the morning that they had gone exploring, and ending with telling him about Avel and Tuyan.

 

“Oh…” Lance said after a few seconds in silence.

 

“Yeah…”

 

“And what do you think about all of… this” he asked, “you know, about Avel and Tuyan.”

 

Shiro furrowed his brows, “uh, I think that they were nice enough?”

 

Lance sighed, “no I mean like… with them being, you know, up here?” He said and gestured to his head.

 

“What do you mean, weren’t they just here because you hit your head so hard?” Shiro asked.

 

“Wha- no!” Lance shouted.

 

“But, then what were they?”

 

“Shiro! They're still here! They're a part of me! They're listening right now! They've always been a part of me!” Lance was shouting every single word, it was clear that he was mad.

 

“Wha-what?” Shiro looked taken back.

 

Lance sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose between two fingers, “I mean that I was born with them, they've been with me my entire life, and I learned to keep them hidden after I found out that something like that wasn't normal, I even lied to my family saying that I had ‘gotten better’.” Lance scoffed.

 

“Oh,” now Shiro just felt stupid, he was supposed to be the leader, how did he not notice something like that?

 

He looked over at Lance who was looking down at the ground looking ashamed.

 

“I’m sorry,” Shiro said eventually.

 

“Nah, it's okay, you didn’t know.” “Yeah but I should have known, I’m your leader, I’m supposed to know and help you with stuff like this” he sighed.

 

“Help me?” Lance sounded confused for a second before his expression turned angry, “if you think I need any kind of ‘help’ with getting rid of them or-” Shiro quickly cut in, “no no, not like that!”

 

Lance’s expression turned softer again. “So uh, are they listening right now?” Shiro asked.

 

Lance raised a brow, “yeah, they are.”

 

Shiro nodded, not sure what to say next.

 

“Can you like… talk to them in your mind, or do you have to talk out loud?” He asked hesitantly.

 

And… now Lance was looking at him like he was crazy.

 

“Uh…” lance hesitated, “yeah? I can talk to them in my mind, kinda… I guess?”

 

Shiro laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head.

 

That was when his stomach decided to intervene.

 

Right, they hadn't eaten last night…

 

“Uh, you hungry?” He cringed, what kind of question was that!?

 

Lance laughed slightly, “yeah, even though it sounded like you are more hungry than me.” Then without another word, he stood up and walked over to where they were storing their food.

 

They ate in silence, ‘why is this so awkward?’ Shiro couldn't help but think.

 

Finally, after a few minutes, Shiro sighed, “Lance… you know that you didn't have to hide something like this from me, you know that I would have accepted you no matter what. Hell, I would have accepted you even if you were secretly an alien.”

 

Lance looked up with a weird look, “did you just swear?”

 

Shiro blushed slightly at that, “uh…”

 

“Oh my god, you did!” Lance face changed into a smug look, “and you always tell us to stop swearing while you secretly did it yourself.”

 

Shiro pouted which caused Lance to start laughing.

 

“You’re adorable,” Lance said which caused Shiro to blush even more.

 

As soon as Lance realized what he had said, he looked away with an equally scarlet face.

 

Shiro tried to will his blush away as he put his hand on Lance’s knee.

 

Lance half looked over at him, but he was still hiding half of his face. Shiro gave him an encouraging smile, still with his hand on Lance’s knee.

 

Lance slowly looked down with a small smile and a vulnerable and soft look on his face.

 

Oh.

 

“Avel?”

 

Avel’s head shot up to look at Shiro. Then he gave a small nod with a slightly impressed look in his eyes.

 

"Yeah... it's me."

 

Shiro smiled widely at him. He couldn't help but feel happy that Avel and Tuyan would be staying, even though he still had to get used to it.

 

"It's good to see you again," he smiled at Avel.

 

Avel gave him a small smile back, "yeah, it's nice to see you as well."

 

Shiro wasn't sure how much time they passed talking, but at some point, Tuyan had decided that he had something to say as well.

 

But in the end, when he was looking at them laughing, he couldn't help but be happy that all of this had happened.

 

He also learned that both Lance and Avel liked to climb trees, Lance liked the feeling of the wind hitting his face, while Avel more liked it because, up there, there wasn't anyone that could judge him, and he could just sit there and enjoy the silence.

 

But even though Tuyan wouldn't admit it, then Shiro learned that he didn't like because of how high up he got.

 

It was kinda funny to imagine temperamental Tuyan being scared of a bit of heights.

 

“wait, what do you do when Lance, climbs a tree then?” He asked.

 

“I just kinda close my eyes you know? I just close it all out so I can't see shit” Tuyan responded with his arms behind his head as he rested against the wall.

 

Shiro furrowed his brows, “how does that work?”

 

Tuyan leaned forward again, “we don't really know, it just kinda works like that,” he answered, “we never really looked into how it works, we just… accepted it.”

 

Shiro wasn't sure if it was still Tuyan or if it was someone else now. He hoped that they would say something first so he could be sure before he embarrassed himself.

 

“But hey, it’s a nice little thing, that way I can just lock the others out so I don't have to deal with them.”

 

Shiro was thinking that it was probably still Tuyan, though it might be Lance.

 

 _‘Ugh, why is this so complicated!?’_ Shiro thought.

 

They frowned at him, oh no, had he said that out loud?

 

“What are you thinking about?” They said as they bit their lower lip, suddenly looking worried.

 

Shiro sighed, he should probably just say it, “I’m still not so sure as to who it is that’s talking sometimes, are you Lance or Tuyan? Avel?”

 

They sighed in relief, (relief?) “I’m Lance.”

 

“Oh okay,” Shiro said, red-faced.

 

“Why are you blushing?” Shiro jumped slightly at the sudden question, he looked up, just to see… Avel, looking at him questioningly.

 

 _‘Guess Avel is pretty fast to notice small details like that’_ “oh, uh… no reason?”

 

Shiro cringed at that, it had sounded more like a question, and it seemed like Avel agreed at that as he frowned.

 

“Okay…?”

 

They talked a bit more about some other random things when suddenly Shiro thought about something.

 

“Hey what about you guys and Blue?”

 

Lance, (who he was currently talking to) tilted his head in confusion.

 

_‘Cute’_

 

“What do you mean?” He asked.

 

“I mean like, can you guys talk to her as well, and how does she react?” Shiro asked, then he gasped, “how did she react when you first became her paladin!?”

 

Lance chuckled slightly, “well, she was surprised at first, but at the same time, she kinda already knew?” He shook his head, “I don't really know.”

 

Shiro hummed in thought at that.

 

But he startled slightly when Lance suddenly yelped before a big grin started to appear on his face.

 

“Hey, Shiro?” Shiro glanced around, getting kinda uncomfortable. “Yeah?”

 

“Wanna prank Tuyan?”

 

Shiro’s head shot over to look at lance who had a big mischievous smile on.

 

“Was that Tuyan who yelped?” “Yep,” Lance grinned.

 

“Can he hear anything right now?” Shiro whispered.

 

“Nope, that's a thing we can do, this way we can still have private conversations,” Lance gave Shiro a suggesting look over.

 

Shiro tried to fight the flush that was slowly but surely climbing up the back of his neck, “U-uh, what do you want to do?” He tried to ignore the way his voice cracked.

 

Lance raised a brow but didn't say anything about it, “I’ll say it again, let’s prank him.”

 

“How?” Shiro wasn't sure why he was still whispering, he just thought that it was fitting.

 

“Let’s go climb a tree”

 

“...”

 

They stared at each other for a bit.

 

“What…?”

 

Lance snorted.

 

“I said; let's go cli-” “no, no, I heard you, but just… why?”

 

“Because he’s just throwing memes around and annoying the hell out of Avel and me.”

 

“In your mind?” Lance rolled his eyes, “yes Shiro, did you hear him memeing the fuck out, out here?”

 

Shiro blinked, “I didn't know Tuyan liked memes.”

 

“He doesn't, it’s because I’m always throwing them at his face and now he's taking revenge” Lance pouted.

 

“So… you plan on taking revenge on him… because he’s taking revenge on _you_ …?”

 

“Yep.”

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

“Let's do it”

  
  


When he agreed, he hadn't planned on being pranked as well, but he now realized the trap that he had caught himself in, as he hanged upside down from a branch.

 

How he had gotten there? He had no idea.

 

“Why am I up here?” He whined, ignoring Lance who had a victorious smile on his face, as he was sitting upright, right in front of Shiro’s legs that were holding him up.

 

“Because it would be funny,” Lance laughed at Shiro’s face, “besides, I’m not _that_ cruel.”

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

 

He stopped talking when Lance suddenly fell sideways so he was hanging right in front of Shiro, and he couldn't help the blush that appeared on his face when Lance’s nose bumped into his.

 

Lance just continued to smile devilishly, like he wasn't even aware of the situation he was putting Shiro into.

 

“You ready?”

 

“Uh-”

 

Lance’s face suddenly turned to one of annoyance and irritation. Seemed like Tuyan was back.

 

He didn't have time to say anything before Tuyan suddenly looked down and his face turned to one of panic.

 

Tuyan with a yelp suddenly wrapped his arms around Shiro and buried his face into Shiro’s shoulder.

 

He didn’t think his face could get any redder.

 

Oh, that had been what Lance had been talking about, he needed one that he could hold onto.

 

“Why are we up here!?” Tuyan screamed into his ear.

 

Shiro winched at the loud voice in his ear, “Lance wanted to take revenge on you…”

 

“...” Tuyan was silent, “and you agreed?”

 

“…Sorry.”

 

Tuyan pulled away enough to be able to look at him, Shiro flinched at his angry and hurt expression, “sorry!? That's all you have to say!?”

 

“Uh…” Shiro wasn't sure what to say.

 

Tuyan seemed to remember where they were since his face turned a bit panicky again.

 

“Okay, let's talk later, can we just get down?” He asked.

 

“Oh, sure.”

  
  


Shiro had been so focussed on crawling down and not falling, that he hadn't even noticed that Tuyan was still stuck in the tree. It was first when he had reached the ground that he noticed that Tuyan wasn't behind him.

 

So he looked up and saw Tuyan clinging to the branch and glaring down at him.

 

He couldn't help but let out a snort, which just ended up in him getting a shoe to the face.

 

He fell backward onto his butt and then looked up at Tuyan who was missing a shoe. How did he even get his shoe off?

 

Shiro decided not to question it.

 

“Are you coming down or not?” He asked, now that he was on the ground he noticed that the tree wasn't actually that tall.

 

“You left me up here!!!” Was screamed down at him in a very high pitched voice.

 

Shiro sighed and stood up again so he was underneath Tuyan.

 

“Just let go, I’ll catch you.”

 

Tuyan took one look down at him and then decided that he was more comfortable on the branch, “are you insane!?”

 

“If you don't get down here, then I’ll throw your shoe back up at you so you’ll fall down, and then I won't catch you,” Shiro waved the lost shoe around.

 

He heard Tuyan grumble something before these blue eyes looked back down at him suspiciously, “and you promise to catch me?”

 

Shiro’s expression softened into a kind smile, “I promise.”

 

Tuyan looked from the branch and then back down at Shiro, then he sighed. And let go.

 

His screech was cut short when he fell into awaiting warm arms.

 

“You can open your eyes now,” Shiro said after a few seconds.

 

Slowly Tuyan opened his eyes, he wasn't sure what he was expecting, but he was still scared, even though he would never admit it.

 

The second his eyes connected with steel grey ones, his face went completely red.

 

Shiro blinked at him, was he blushing?

 

“Are you okay?” He asked, and it was like the spell had been broken, as Tuyan jumped out of his arms and turned around to try and hide his red face.

 

“Y-yeah, I'm fine, don't worry about it,” he said quickly, “t-thank you, for catching me!”

 

“Oh, uh, your welcome” Shiro said, slightly hesitant.

 

“Well, uh… It’s getting dark, we should head back to the cave!” Tuyan screeched, and then pretty much ran back to the cave to try and hide.

 

Shiro blinked at Tuyan’s retreating form, what just happened?

 

It wasn't even that dark yet, sure it was slowly getting dark, but not dangerously yet.

 

“Well, guess we’re going to bed early today” he mumbled to himself, as he started to walk in the direction that Tuyan had disappeared in.

  
  


When he got back to the cave he found Tuyan already buried in the blanket, they hadn't even eaten yet.

 

 _‘Guess he must be pretty tired’_ Shiro thought to himself as he decided to go to sleep as well.

 

And even though it wasn't dark yet, he still fell asleep pretty quickly.

  
  
  


In the darkness of the night, no one noticed when one of the two figures that were sleeping in a cave, slowly stood up and walked over to the other sleeping figure.

 

And there was no one to notice when the figure laid down next to the other sleeping form and laid still again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was not very happy with this, and I'm pretty disappointed in myself, but I especially didn't like the ending, I felt like I could have written it much better, but I just couldn't find the right way to phrase it, so I hope this was okay.
> 
> I'm thinking, that the next chapter is just gonna be full of Shance moments, though I kinda want to hurry a bit up in this story since I feel like I'm taking to long with it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally, I thought of Black as a guy and then the rest of the lions were girls, but now I kinda enjoy the thought of Black being a big fluffy mother, ENJOY.

When Shiro woke up, the last thing he had expected was to see Lance cuddled up to him.

****

He could clearly remember when they had gone to bed the last night, so he clearly remembered that they had been lying on the opposite sides of the cave, so how in the living hell, had Lance managed to get all the way over to where he was lying?

****

He was completely still for a while, trying to make sense of the situation.

****

Or, well, that was until Lance groaned slightly and cuddled closer to Shiro. Not long after, he opened his eyes.

****

They stared at each other for a bit.

****

“Uh…”

****

Lance had a big blush covering his cheeks as he looked down with a slightly shy and embarrassed look in his eyes.

****

Wait, is that…

****

“Avel?” Shiro asked with furrowed brows.

****

Avel didn't look up, he just nodded.

****

“Uh,” Shiro wasn't sure how to say it, “did you walk over here last night or…”

****

Avel nodded again.

****

“O-oh, okay.” Shiro’s poor heart couldn't handle this. “W-why?”

****

Avel looked away and didn't respond but Shiro couldn't help but notice the light blush covering his cheeks.

****

_‘Lance is handsome, Tuyan is adorable, and Avel is beautiful…’_

****

_‘This is messed up’_

****

“Hey, it’s okay, you don't have to be embarrassed,” Shiro said gently. He couldn't help but reach over and push the strand of hair that had fallen over one of his eyes away.

****

Avel glanced at him from the corner of his eyes.

****

His heart fluttered when Avel smiled slightly, “thank you.”

****

Shiro gave him a smile in return.

****

And then he remembered that they were still cuddled up to each other…

****

He quickly stood up, ignoring Avel’s puppy eyes, “well, uh… We should get up now, I mean, it's around noon already, wow. Uh, guess we were more tired than we thought… Even though we went to bed pretty early…” He whispered the last part.

****

“Uh, okay so, it looks like we’re gonna need more wood soon,” he kicked at the remains of the fire to state his point. “So, let's go get some!”

****

And then he ran out of the cave like an idiot. Though maybe he should do it more often, he thought as he heard Avel give a small chuckle.

****

 

They walked around for a bit, Shiro was picking up the wood that was lying around while Avel was just kinda walking in the back, sometimes he would pick up the things that Shiro either didn't notice or if he dropped anything.

****

Shiro wasn't sure if it was Avel anymore, or if he had switched.

****

“Borrrrriiing” yep, that was definitely not Avel.

****

Shirooooo, I’m borrreed…” Lance whined.

****

Shiro sighed, “Lance, we have to get wood or else we’ll just freeze tonight, do you want that?”

****

Lance just grumbled in reply.

****

“Don't we have enough now?” Lance asked after a bit.

****

Shiro looked down at the big pile of wood, there was definitely enough.

****

“Yeah sure, let's head back with this.”

****

 

“Shiro.”

****

“Shiroooo…”

****

“Shi-” “What!?”

****

“Berries?” Shiro looked at Lance weirdly, had Lance been calling his name for the last two minutes for that?

****

“I’m sorry what?”

****

Lance sighed like Shiro was the idiot, “The berries that you found a while ago, I want more!”

****

Shiro just raised a brow, “why now?”

****

“Because I fell like it.”

****

He sighed, “I don't have anymore.”

****

“Well, then why don't we go find some more then?”

****

Shiro groaned, “why now?” He repeated.

****

Lance glared at him, then he stood up and walked over to where Shiro was sitting.

****

“Because,” then he grabbed Shiro’s hand, and started to literally drag him out of the cave.

****

“Okay, okay, I get it,” he scrambled to get up.

****

“It should be around… here,” Shiro came to a stop in between some bushes.

****

“Okay cool, now, which bush was it?” Lance looked up at Shiro for an answer.

****

“Uh…”

****

“Are you kidding me…”

****

“They all look the same,” Shiro tried.

****

Lance didn't even say anything, he just walked over to some of the bushes and started to search.

****

Shiro went over to do the same with some other bushes.

****

A few minutes passed in silence, until…

****

Shiro whipped around when he heard Lance let out a loud yelp.

****

Lance was slowly backing away from something, but because of where Shiro stood, he couldn't see what it was.

****

“Shiro… help”

****

As soon as he heard those words, he quickly ran over to him.

****

He had just gotten there when he saw something lunge at Lance.

****

Time seemed to slow as he stopped whatever it was that was about to attack Lance by grabbing it.

****

His heart was thumping when he finally saw what it was.

****

It was some kind of greyish purple snake.

****

It’s piercing White-eyes were staring at Lance as it struggled and tried to get out of Shiro’s grip.

****

Lance who was still frozen as the snake only just wasn't able to reach him.

****

Shiro shook his head as he pulled the snake away from Lance, who let out a breath when the snake was removed.

****

“Well,” Shiro started, sounding slightly out of breath, “now we know there are snakes here.”

****

Lance just nodded.

****

“Yeah… Now we do.”

****

He suddenly remembered that he was still holding the snake when it snapped at him.

****

“What should I do with this? I can throw it back into the forest, or…” he glanced down at some rocks by his feet.

****

“Just… throw it far away.”

****

And just as Lance turned around and started to walk away, he did just that.

****

After he had thrown it far in between the trees, he shuddered. He never really liked snakes.

****

Then he quickly jogged up to where Lance was walking.

****

“So… guess we never got any berries then,” he said.

****

“Speak for yourself,” Lance said with a mouth full of berries.

****

“Hey, when did you find those?” Shiro asked, “I want some too, give me,”

****

Lance chuckled when Shiro reached for the berries that he hadn't eaten yet.

****

The incident with the snake was quickly forgotten.

****

“No! Get your own!” Lance shouted as he tried to shield them with his body.

****

What he hadn't expected, was for Shiro to suddenly start tickling his sides.

****

He screeched loudly and tried to grab his hands to make him stop.

****

Shiro used this to his advantage as he grabbed some of the berries, making sure not to squish them.

****

He popped one into his mouth, ignoring Lance’s glare.

****

“That’s cheating,” Lance grumbled.

****

Shiro just laughed and ate another one.

****

But he suddenly stopped when he saw Lance smirk. Oh no…

****

Lance got so close to Shiro’s face that he could feel his breath hitting his face.

****

But that wasn't the worst of it, the worst part was when Lance slowly took a berry and placed it into his mouth.

****

Was this revenge? Karma? No matter what, it was not supposed to be affecting him this way.

****

He hardly heard it when Lance sniggered and started to steal all of his berries back.

****

He was still standing there when Lance started to slowly walk away.

****

“W-wha- wait, Lance!” He hurried after Lance when he started to run.

****

He couldn't help but smile when he heard Lance laughing.

  
  


Later on, they had decided to go visit the lions to see how they were doing.

****

Shiro wasn't happy with the fact that they had to split up, but Lance assured him that they would be safe with the lions.

****

Shiro decided not to mention the fact that the lions wouldn't be able to do anything if he was attacked.

****

They still needed _a lot_ of repairs if they had to get up again.

****

Shiro was sitting and talking with Black, and for a second, the thought of Lance, Avel, and Tuyan slipped from his mind.

****

He sat there for a while, having completely lost track of time, but then Black reminded him of Lance.

****

He tried to ignore her laugh in his mind when he thought of Lance.

****

_-You should tell him-_

****

_‘Tell him what?’_

****

He could feel her amusement as he tried to ignore what she was implying.

****

_‘Wait, what time is it?’_

****

He was thrown back into reality when he realized how long he had sat there.

****

“I should probably go and check on him,” he said out loud to her, “bye Black.”

****

And with those words, he started to walk in the direction that he knew Blue was in.

****

When he got there he had expected Lance to be sitting at Blue’s paw just like he had.

****

So he was surprised when he saw him sitting on top of Blue.

****

He looked so peaceful with the wind blowing through his hair and with a small smile on his lips.

****

He just stood there for a bit, admiring the way Lance looked at the moment knowing that it wouldn't last forever.

****

He tried to ignore the way that Black chuckled in the back of his mind.

****

After a bit, he decided that it had been long, “hey, Lance!” He yelled up at him, hoping to get his attention.

****

Lance jumped slightly in surprise when he heard Shiro.

****

Then he looked down at him and smiled, “hey Shiro!”

****

“You ready to get dinner?” Shiro shouted up to him.

****

“Yeah sure, hold on,” then he got up and started to walk over to an area where he could easily slide down onto the ground.

****

What he hadn't expected was to trip over a loose piece of metal.

****

He let out a loud scream when he started to fall to the ground.

****

But it was cut off when he suddenly fell onto something soft.

****

He looked up and saw that Shiro had only barely caught him before he hit the ground.

****

“Isn't this the second time today that you almost got hurt?”

****

“Isn’t this the second time that you hold me in your arms?” Lance shot back before he could think of it.

****

But honestly? It was kinda worth it just to see Shiro blush like that.

****

He could hear Avel and Tuyan making kissing noises in the back of his mind, and he was pretty sure that Blue was there as well.

****

They stood there for a bit Shiro just holding Lance and them looking into each other’s eyes.

****

They didn't know when they had moved closer, but at some point, they were only a breath away, and they were about to move even closer.

****

When suddenly a stomach rumbled and brought them back into reality.

****

Their eyes shot back up, not sure when they had closed them.

****

Lance awkwardly stepped back, oh god Shiro must think he was so weird, he probably ruined any chance that he had ever had.

****

Like he had ever had a chance…

****

Shiro quickly removed the hand that he had been about to touch Lance’s cheek with, oh god what had he done?

****

“Uh, w-we should probably get back to the cave and get something to eat.”

****

As Shiro turned to walk towards the cave, Lance put a hand on one of his cheeks, it was to feel if he was really blushing, but it was also the one that Shiro had been about to touch.

****

The walk back to the cave was silent, none of them knew what to say.

****

They also ate in silence, the only sound being them eating.

****

Finally, Shiro couldn't handle the silence anymore.

****

“you know… I had actually planned on saying a joke before, uh, you know…” Shiro said awkwardly.

****

“…” Lance was silent for a bit, “what…?”

****

_‘Oh god…’_ “about me holding you in my arms… uh…” God this was awkward.

****

“Well… Let's hear it then,” Lance said.

****

“What?”

****

“Let me hear it, it can't possibly be worse than whenever Keith tries to make a joke,” Lance chuckled slightly.

****

“That's so ironic…” “What? Why?”

****

“It’s just, when you said; that it was the second time that I had held you in my arms, I had planned on saying; Well that's not good, we can't be having Keith getting jealous”

****

“Huh?” Lance tilted his head to the side, god that was adorable…

****

“Because he’s so obsessed with the fact that he cradled you in his arms,” Shiro explained.

****

Lance looked kinda weirdly at him for a second, but then his expression changed into one that looked a second away from bursting into laughter.

****

Shiro raised a brow with a funny smile, and that was all it took.

****

Lance burst into laughter, and at some point, it got so bad that he leaned forward and rested his head on Shiro’s chest.

****

He couldn't handle this, his poor heart was about to explode.

****

Lance slowly trailed off into a small chuckle, and after a bit, he slowly leaned back so he was sitting up, and so he could let Shiro’s heart rest.

****

_‘Oh god, please don't tell me that he heard it…’_

****

When he looked back up, he could see Lance looking away with a pretty embarrassed expression.

****

“Uh, that wasn't me…”

****

“Oh, uh, was it Tuyan?” Shiro asked.

****

“Avel…”

****

“Wait, what?” That was not what he had expected.

****

“Yeah, it’s actually pretty funny to think about; Avel, the shy and quiet one, likes jokes a lot, while Tuyan doesn't understand even the most simple one, even after you explained it to him.”

****

Lance was laughing again and at that moment, Shiro thought that Lance had never been more beautiful.

****

He wasn't sure what it was that made him do it, maybe it was the sound of Lance’s laughter, or how close they had been earlier, but later on, he couldn't say that he regretted it.

****

So before he could overthink it, he leaned forward and grabbed Lance’s face, then without further thinking, he kissed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was so bad... it's because there's something really big going on in my school right now, so I never had any time to write, and whenever I had a chance to write anything, I had really bad writer's block, so I really hate myself and I hate how I wrote this chapter.
> 
> My advice to you; don't write when you have writer's block, since then it will just turn into this horrible piece of crap.
> 
> But really, I'm not sure when I'll have time to write, so I don't know how this will go, so if I post something kinda late then this is why. Though, I'm still going to try, so... Let's see how this goes, shall we?


	7. Chapter 7

Lance’s eyes widened and he stood still for a bit, but then his eyes slowly slipped shut and he melded further into the kiss.

 

The kiss was nice and innocent at first, a way that they could explain everything without words, one full of love.

 

But of course, those kinds of things don't last very long.

 

The kiss quickly became heated and before any of them could really understand what was happening, Lance was being pushed against the cave wall.

 

He could barely hear Avel and Tuyan cheering in his mind, right now the only thing that mattered was that Shiro wasn't close enough yet.

 

He knew that he didn't really deserve this, but right now, he couldn't care less, the only thing that mattered was that he now had his legs wrapped around Shiro and that the wall and he were the only things that were keeping him up.

 

His arms were wrapped around Shiro’s neck, while Shiro’s hands had a bruising grip on his hips.

 

And he wouldn't deny the sound that left him when Shiro started to move down his neck.

 

Meanwhile, Shiro was in heaven, it was only in his dreams that he had been able to do this, so he could hardly believe that this was really happening.

 

He would probably cry if this was a dream.

 

Besides, they never knew if something would happen, the times that Lance almost died were enough proof of that, maybe that was what really caused this.

 

But no matter what, then he decided that for now, he would just enjoy all of this.

 

Did Lance even know what these sounds were doing to him? They hadn't even passed the making out stage.

 

Just the thought of there being more stages made him growl.

 

His head suddenly snapped to the side towards the opening of the cave, there was a loud sound that was coming from outside.

 

He would have ignored it if it wasn't for the fact that it sounded like when the castle landed.

 

Had they finally been found?

 

But why now…

 

He looked back at Lance who was looking at him in confusion, and it was just so cute that Shiro couldn't help but give him a small peck on the lips.

 

He couldn't help but smile when Lance chased back after him.

 

“Lance, it could be the castle, we have to go check,” he said, even though all he really wanted to was to stay right where they were and continue from where they had left off.

 

“Can't that wait?” Lance asked as he leaned forward again, trying to capture Shiro’s lips.

 

Shiro was about to give in again, but right before it could happen, he pulled back.

 

“Sorry Lance, but we have to check,” he put Lance back onto the ground, ignoring his whine of protest, “besides, I don't think you would enjoy it if they caught us like this, do you?”

 

“No…”

 

“Then let’s go, we’ll talk about this later.”

 

“Fine. But you owe me,” Lance poked a finger into his chest, and then started to walk towards the cave opening.

 

“I’ll make it up to you soon enough don't worry…” he didn't really think about what he was saying since he was currently busy watching the sway of Lance’s hips as he walked.

 

As soon as they got over to the cave opening, Shiro instantly stepped in front of Lance.

 

Lance glared at him, “we don't know if it could be something else,” he explained.

 

“I swear, if it was just a stupid animal that interrupted us, then I’m going to murder it, and after that, I’m coming back for your ass” Lance grumbled as he pushed past Shiro.

 

“Okay…” Shiro wouldn't deny that he was a little scared of Lance, but there was no way that he would ever tell him that.

 

He was shaken out of his thoughts when he heard Lance letting out a choked sound.

 

In only a second, he had jumped out with a glowing arm… and looking at Hunk crushing Lance in a hug.

 

“Dude, I thought we would never find you, do you have any idea of how worried I was!?” Hunk rambled, “uh, Shiro you can turn that hand off, I’m not hurting him… or am I?” He suddenly looked at Lance, who was looking a bit blue.

 

“Sorry!” He let Lance out, who quickly sucked in a big breath.

 

Then Lance glared slightly at Shiro, so he quickly turned his hand off.

 

(He was pretty sure that it had been Tuyan who glared at him.)

 

“How _did_ you find us?” Shiro asked Hunk, who was still checking if Lance was okay.

 

Pidge suddenly appeared behind him, and he would forever deny the shriek that left him when he noticed, “it’s actually pretty simple, the black lion managed to repair some things, so it could send out a distress signal, which is how we found you.”

 

“Wait, the lions can repair themselves?” Lance asked.

 

“Only a few things, though we are still going to have to repair them manually, so don't go flying in them just yet, thinking; ‘oh well, they fixed themselves they’re fine’.”

 

“I would never!”

 

“Really Lance…?” Pidge raised a brow.

 

“Okay, that's enough,” Shiro broke in before Lance could say anything back, “Pidge leave Lance alone.”

 

Her jaw dropped as Lance smiled triumphantly.

 

“Ha!”

 

“Don't you get started either.”

 

Pidge snickered behind a hand, ignoring how Lance glared at her.

 

“Shiro!”

 

Shiro turned towards the castle when he heard someone calling his name.

 

Keith was running towards him, and before Shiro could say anything, Keith was suddenly hugging him.

 

“Don't you dare ever, disappear like that again, I thought I would never see you again, I was so worried!”

 

Shiro blinked, before looking up and seeing Lance quickly looking away while biting his lower lip.

 

he gave Keith a reassuring squeeze and a quick; ‘it’s good to see you too’, before walking back over to where Lance stood, hoping no one noticed that he stood a little closer than normal.

 

He didn't notice the way Pidge narrowed her eyes at them.

 

“It is surely great to see you two okay,” Allura suddenly appeared, “though, I think it took a bit longer than necessary.”

 

“Yay, not our fault. You should just be happy that your _paladins_ are still alive” Lance snapped, ignoring it when Shiro elbowed him in the gut.

 

_‘Tuyan…’_

 

He was surprised that they hadn't been found out yet…

 

Allura looked surprised and even slightly hurt.

 

But before anyone could say anything, Shiro quickly cut in; “well, we should probably get back and get the supplies that we left in the cave, meanwhile you guys can go and get our lions, okay?”

 

Lance seemed to forget everything that had just happened as he brightened, “oh yeah, and let’s hurry a bit, I haven't had a shower in who knows how long, and I’ll tell you what, my skin does not enjoy that.”

 

No one seemed to question how his mood changed so quickly.

 

_‘We’re all blind…’_

  


They quickly got everything gathered, and Shiro decided not to say anything when he noticed Lance sneak some of the fruits that they had left, into one of the pockets in his jacket.

 

 _‘They’re probably to Hunk’_ he thought.

 

“You sure we got everything?” Shiro asked as he folded one of the blankets.

 

“If we forget something, then I’m not coming back for it,” he responded.

 

“Tuyan…”

 

Tuyan raised an impressed brow, “I mean, not only do we have so few things that there’s absolutely no need to worry about forgetting something, and aren't they meant to only be used once?”

 

Shiro sighed, “Tuyan… we’re still going to use the blanket’s, the only thing that we need to restock is the food.”

 

Tuyan’s eyes widened for a second before quickly looking down in embarrassment, “oh.”

  


Shiro gently knocked on Lance’s door, he wasn't sure what he was going to say, but he knew that they had to talk.

 

“Come in,” he heard Lance call through the door.

 

When he opened the door, he didn't see Lance, so he guessed that he was in the bathroom.

 

So he went over to the bed and sat down, deciding to wait for Lance to finish.

 

He sat there for a bit, and he was not ready when Lance suddenly walked out, only wearing a towel.

 

“So, you wanted to talk didn't you?” He didn't say anything about the fact that Lance can apparently read minds.

 

Actually… he didn't say anything.

 

At some point, Lance started to get worried, “Shiro? Are you okay?”

 

All he could do, was nod, as he kept staring at Lance’s exposed (and still wet) chest.

 

Then Lance seemed to realize what he was staring at since he suddenly got a very mischievous look on his face.

 

Shiro was not prepared for when Lance suddenly started to walk towards him in a way that showed of the muscle that he had, and a way that was very inappropriate.

 

He still hadn't said anything when Lance had reached the bed and draped himself over Shiro’s shoulder and arm.

 

“You like what you see?” Lance teased.

 

“Very much so,” Shiro responded, and he enjoyed it when a blush lightened up on Lance’s cheeks.

 

He would have continued teasing Lance, but then he remembered the real reason for why he was there.

 

“Lance, we should really talk about… you know, this” He quickly noticed how Lance’s expression fell.

 

“Right, uh…”

 

 _‘He’s probably going to reject you…’_ Lance couldn't help but think, as he watched Shiro trying to find the right words. _‘Why would you ever think that there was a chance that he liked you, he’s probably disgusted, and not only by the thought that you like him, but also because of Avel and Tuyan, he probably thinks you’re a freak who needs help’_

 

Lance ignored Avel and Tuyan who was trying to tell him that none of that was true.

 

Meanwhile, Shiro was trying to get Lance’s attention, but he seemed to be deep in thought. Was he talking to Tuyan and Avel?

 

“Lance?”

 

Lance jerked out of his thoughts when he heard Shiro call his name, great… now he had an even bigger reason to think Lance was weird.

 

“Are you okay?” Shiro asked.

 

Lance nodded, “yeah, just thinking… what were you saying?”

 

Shiro looked at him for a bit, but then he decided that he would talk with Lance about that later, for now, they had bigger things to talk about.

 

“So uh… you know, that kiss in the cave? Well…”

 

Lance sighed, “okay, before you reject me, I just want to say-”

 

“Wha- reject you? Lance, I’m not going to reject you…” Shiro cut him off. Was that what Lance had been thinking about?

 

“Y-you’re not?” Lance hesitantly looked up at him.

 

Shiro reached his hand up to cup Lance’s cheek, and then he slowly leaned forward.

 

The kiss was slow and sweet, it was meant to reassure, and that it did.

 

Slowly Shiro leaned back to look at Lance, “is that enough of an answer for you?”

 

Lance looked at Shiro for a bit, before suddenly jumped forward to wrap his arms around Shiro’s neck.

 

Shiro ignored the feeling of his shirt getting wet, as he put one hand on the back of Lance’s head, and the other on his back.

 

He could feel Lance nod into his chest and he sighed as he rested his head on the top of Lance’s head, enjoying the feeling of his soft hair tickling his chin.

 

They sat there for a bit, Shiro gently rocking them back and forth as Lance slowly calmed down.

 

Slowly, Lance leaned back and rubbed at his eyes, “sorry…”

 

“It’s okay,” Shiro smiled gently at Lance, “are you okay now?”

 

Lance looked down in shame, “yeah…”

 

The silence that followed was pretty awkward, and at some point, Lance couldn't handle it anymore, “so uh… are we, like… you know, uh…”

 

“Dating?” Shiro chuckled, “I mean. If you want to.”

 

Lance quickly nodded, maybe a little too eager.

 

Shiro chuckled again, “so, that means that I can just do this…?” He said with a smile as he leaned forward again, though this time he stopped right before they met.

 

Lance smiled as well, “that depends on if you deserve it.”

 

Shiro was about to lean all the way in, but was stopped by Lance’s hand, “ah, ah, not yet.” Lance said teasingly.

 

Shiro leaned back, smirking.

 

And then he was suddenly reminded of something.

 

Lance seemed to notice that something was wrong since his smirk quickly disappeared as well.

 

“Shiro? What’s wrong?”

 

“It’s just… what about Avel and Tuyan?” Shiro asked worriedly.

 

It was their body as well, would they even be okay with this?

 

One of the last things he had expected was for Lance to suddenly start laughing.

 

“Sorry, it’s just… you know what? I’ll let them tell you.” Lance said through his laughing fit.

 

Suddenly Lance’s laughter was replaced with a glare, one with a very bright blush on it.

 

 _‘Tuyan’_ his mind supplied.

 

“Why are you looking at me like that!?” Tuyan shouted, still blushing.

 

“Oh, uh… sorry, it’s just… what was it that you had to tell me?” He quickly noticed how Tuyan’s blush only deepened.

 

Tuyan took a deep breath, and then…

 

“I like you too…” he said quietly.

 

Shiro blinked, “I’m sorry what?”

 

Tuyan suddenly looked angry, “I said, I like you too! Just like Lance! Just like Ave- I like you okay!?”

 

Now Tuyan was looking down at the floor, pointedly _not_ looking at Shiro.

 

He looked up in surprise when Shiro gently grabbed his chin and made him look up at him.

 

Before Tuyan could say anything, he gently pressed his lips against Tuayn’s.

 

Then not long after, he pulled back, “am I gonna have to kiss Avel too?”

 

Tuyan snorted, and it was probably one of the most adorable things Shiro had ever seen.

 

He was pushed out of his thoughts when Tuyans expression suddenly turned shy.

 

Avel was blushing as well, but not anywhere as much as Tuyan had.

 

“Maybe…” Avel said, and it took a few seconds for Shiro to understand that he had just answered the previous question that he had just asked Tuyan.

 

Shiro couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face as he leaned forward again.

 

Only to be stopped by a hand, much like how Lance had stopped him earlier, though this time Avel didn't look teasing.

 

Avel hesitated a bit, before suddenly reaching out and pulling Shiro in for a hug.

 

“If you hurt any of them, I’ll kill you.”

 

“Okay…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want everyone to know, that I have never been in a relationship, or had a crush on someone, so I'm just kinda guessing how it's like, and basing it of, of other stories I've read.
> 
> And if anyone was uncomfortable with the makeout scene, then don't worry, the only reason it was so detailed, was because it was the first kiss, I doubt there'll be more scenes like that.
> 
>  
> 
> Pay close attention to how Avel didn't kiss Shiro, and only hugged him.
> 
>  
> 
> Guess which sentence will be in the next chapter:  
> 1\. I love you.  
> 2\. I'm breaking up with you.  
> 3\. "You're dating!?"
> 
> XD


	8. Chapter 8

A few days quickly passed, and the lions had been fixed up again (luckily they hadn't been attacked while they were out of commission), and Shiro continued to get closer to Lance and Tuyan.

 

But, he felt like he hadn't gotten any closer to Avel, it was almost like he was pulling away from him.

 

Shiro was constantly trying to find the reason for this, but with no luck.

 

Though he could happily say that they had at least gotten a little bit closer.

 

His reason for thinking this was because he had once walked in on Avel dancing to some song that Shiro didn't know, but he didn't care about the song after Avel suddenly grabbed his hands and started to dance with him.

 

(Lance later told him that Avel loved music and dancing)

 

Though sometimes he temporarily forgot about the thing with Avel, an example could be…

  


Shiro yawned as he walked into the kitchen to grab some food goo.

 

But one of the last things he had expected, was to see Lance standing over by the oven, he was covered in batter and flour, but he didn't seem to notice, nor did he notice when Shiro walked in.

 

He was staring into the oven almost like he was waiting for something.

 

Then he looked at the clock that was in the kitchen, and with a smile on his face, he opened the oven and pulled something out of it.

 

It was… muffins?

 

Then with a slight smirk, Shiro quietly sneaked over to where Lance stood and wrapped his arms around his waist.

 

Lance yelped in surprise and almost dropped the batch full of muffins.

 

“Shiro!” He screamed at him, okay not Lance then.

 

(Lance doesn't have such a big reaction to stuff like that, and he would probably just have leaned back into his arms instead of screaming)

 

“I didn't know you liked baking, Tuyan,” Shiro said with a smile.

 

Tuyan’s face went aflame, “w-what, no I don't!”

 

“It’s okay to like bakin-”

 

“I don't like baking!” Tuyan screamed, “it’s just… really relaxing… and you get to make people smile… plus, it tastes good…”

 

“I don't know… it kinda sounds like you like baking,” Shiro teased, but when he saw Tuyan looking a few seconds away from punching him, he quickly said, “okay, okay, I’ll stop… though at a price.”

 

“Really…” Tuyan sighed, “and what is that?”

 

Shiro reached over Tuyan’s shoulder, trying to grab one of the muffins.

 

Tuyan tried to shield them with his body, “no! You’re not getting these!”

 

“What why?” Shiro pouted, “why are you baking if we’re not even allowed to eat them?”

 

“I never said you’re not allowed to eat them,” Tuyan replied as he ignored Shiro’s pout, and instead started to carry the tray over to the counter where there stood lot’s of different things. “I'm just not finished with them yet.”

 

Shiro’s pout deepened, but he didn't say anything, instead, he just went over to sit on the counter and ignored Tuyan’s glare, as he waited for him to finish.

 

Finally, after a few _very_ boring minutes, Tuyan said; “Done!”

 

Shiro quickly jumped down from the counter and ran over to Tuyan to see.

 

There, in front of him stood multiple cat cupcakes, with whiskers and everything.

 

“Oh, they’re cupcakes, I thought they were muffins…” Shiro said as he looked in wonder at the masterpieces in front of him.

 

Tuyan’s whipped around to stare at Shiro, “you thought they were muffins!?”

 

Shiro flinched at the yell, “uh… I’m not that good at baking… or cooking…”

 

“...” Tuyan stared at him for a while, “I'm breaking up with you…”

 

“What!?”

 

Tuyan grabbed one of the cupcakes and turned towards Shiro again, then he held it out to him, “take this and leave.”

 

Shiro had a sad pout on his face as he grabbed the cupcake.

 

Then Tuyan turned back to the rest of the cupcakes.

 

Shiro then decided to walk up behind Tuyan and lean on him so he could hold the cupcake out in front of them.

 

“Will you forgive me if I give you this cupcake?”

 

Tuyan furrowed his brows as his blue eyes locked onto the cupcake, “but I just gave it to you?”

 

“Exactly, you gave it to me, which means it’s mine now, so I can do what I want to do with it.”

 

And just to state his point, he reached out to form the cupcake to make it look like it was smiling, it honestly just looked weird now, but Tuyan seemed to like it since he chuckled.

 

Then Tuyan took the cupcake, he looked at it for a few seconds before raising it and taking a bite.

 

He hummed in thought for a bit, before turning back to Shiro, then he gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, I forgive you.”

 

And even though Shiro knew that they never really broke up, he couldn't help but use it as an excuse to pick Tuyan up and twirl him around.

 

He enjoyed the sound of his giggles in his ears.

 

But then he heard footsteps so he quickly put Tuyan down, ignoring his confused pout.

 

“-and then he said- oh hi guys, anyway he said, wait, are those cupcakes?” Hunk said as he walked in with Keith next to him.

 

“Uh… no…?” Tuyan tried.

 

_‘Note to self; Tuyan is horrible at lying…’_

 

Hunk suddenly rushed towards the cupcakes, “why didn't you tell me you made cupcakes?”

 

“Uh… because I just made them?” Tuyan said as he watched Hunk fuss over the cakes.

 

“Yeah sure, don't you think I don't see that…” Keith said as he pointed at the cupcake in Tuyan’s hand, and at that angle, it was pretty clear that he had taken a bite out of it.

 

“I was just… taste testing it…” Tuyan tried as he hid it behind his back.

 

Shiro used this to his advantage as he grabbed the cupcake and took a bite out of it.

 

He hummed, ignoring the fact that everyone was looking at him weirdly, “it’s good.”

 

Tuyan huffed in offense, “of course it’s good, _I_ made it after all.”

 

He ignored the sound of Keith snorting.

 

Shiro just rolled his eyes and tried to hide his smile by taking another bite.

 

If it had been Lance, then he would probably have started to argue or something like that, with Keith.

 

But Tuyan didn't, huh, guess it’s only Lance then, or maybe Avel too?

 

Almost as if he had heard him, the second Keith turned his back to Tuyan, Tuyan’s expression darkened.

 

“Tuyan?” Shiro whispered.

 

“Avel…” he answered.

 

Shiro was surprised, “are you okay?”

 

Avel sighed, “yeah, I just… really don't like Keith…”

 

“Why?” Shiro asked.

 

Avel sighed again, “I just… don't…”

 

“Okay…” Shiro gave him a small smile and put his arm around Avel’s shoulders.

 

“What are you two talking about?” Shiro quickly stepped away from Avel, when Keith spoke up.

 

“Nothing you need to worry about mullet,” Avel responded as he crossed his arms.

 

“What is with you and my hair,” Keith rolled his eyes, “whatever, I was going to ask why you made _cat_ cupcakes.”

 

Shiro quickly noticed when Avel turned back into Tuyan, “because I wanted to!” He yelled, surprising the others, “also, they’re cute…”

 

Shiro raised a brow at him. Great reply…

 

“Okay…” Keith said slowly.

 

And while everyone was busy talking about the cupcakes, Pidge and the mice had managed to sneak into the kitchen, and then without anyone noticing, they stole half of the cupcakes and snuck away again.

 

When Tuyan noticed, he looked both proud of himself, but he also looked a few seconds away from splitting the castle into pieces to find the missing cupcakes and Pidge.

  


Shiro and Lance were lying on one of the couches together, Lance resting on top of Shiro, with his head resting on his chest.

 

Shiro was currently going through information on some kind of screen that he was holding. Lance was going to call it an iPad, but for some reason, Coran always seemed to appear out of nowhere, to say that it was called… some alien name that no one could pronounce.

 

“Hey, Shiro?” Lance asked.

 

“Yeah?” Shiro replied as he put the screen down.

 

“Why do we keep this a secret?”

 

“Our relationship?”

 

“Yeah. Why do we keep it a secret?”

 

Shiro was silent for a bit, “uh… because it’s funny?” He tried.

 

Lance chuckled, “I mean, I guess it is kinda funny, but… is that the only reason?”

 

“…Do you want to tell them?”

 

“…Maybe not yet,” Lance replied.

 

“So… we’re gonna keep this a secret?”

 

“Sure, why not… unless you want to tell them of course,” Lance quickly said.

 

“It’s fine with me. Besides, this means that I can have you all to myself!” Shiro said, right before covering Lance’s face with kisses.

 

Lance giggled tried to push him away from his face, but Shiro wasn't moving.

 

“Stopppp…” Lance whined.

 

“Never!”

 

They both laughed, but then suddenly, Lance froze, and then frowned.

 

“Huh?” Shiro was about to ask what was wrong when Lance suddenly said; “I want kisses too!”

 

Well, it seemed like Tuyan was jealous.

 

Shiro chuckled, before leaning forward and giving Tuyan a slow and deep kiss.

 

When he pulled back, Tuyan had a dazed expression, “it wasn't the same, but I can't say that I didn't enjoy that.”

 

Shiro chuckled.

  


Shiro was about to go to his room when he suddenly heard something.

 

It sounded like… crying!?

 

He quickly looked around to see where the sound was coming from, and then he noticed that he stood outside Lance’s room.

 

_‘Oh god, please don't tell me that it’s Lance’’_

 

He was about to open the door, but hesitated for a second, what if he wanted to be alone?

 

_‘No, I’m not going to leave him alone when he’s like this’_

 

Then he opened the door.

 

The second the door slid open, the crying stopped, and he just saw it when a figure ran into the bathroom.

 

“Wait, Lance!” He shouted as he ran over to knock on the door to the bathroom.

 

“It’s me, Shiro. Please come out, I just want to know what’s wrong”

 

It was silent on the other side of the door.

 

“Lance?”

 

He instinctively reached to open the door, even though it was probably locked.

 

Surprisingly, the door slid open.

 

“Lance?” Shiro called as he took a step into the bathroom.

 

Lance was sitting in the empty bathtub, he was holding something that Shiro couldn't see.

 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Shiro squatted down next to the bathtub and put a hand on the side of it.

 

Lance flinched away from the hand, so Shiro quickly removed it.

 

“Lance?” Shiro asked hesitantly.

 

After a few seconds, Lance finally reacted by shaking his head.

 

Shiro furrowed his brows, “Tuyan? Avel?”

 

Again, he hesitated, but after a few seconds, he finally nodded at the last one.

 

“Avel?” Shiro asked, “what’s wrong?”

 

He didn't reply.

 

But then the light seemed to catch on the thing he was trying to hide from Shiro.

 

It looked like… a picture?

 

Was he missing his family? Lance missed them a lot, maybe it was the same with Avel?

 

“Avel… it’s okay if you miss your family.”

 

Avel still didn't say anything, he just tucked the picture closer to his chest.

 

Shiro slowly raised his hand and hesitated a bit before slowly placing it on Avels arm.

 

They sat silently for a few minutes, Shiro just being there for Avel.

 

But then, Avel sighed and slowly moved so he still had the picture tucked close to his chest, but so Shiro could see what was on the picture.

 

His eyes widened when he saw what was on it.

 

It was a boy with short blond hair and brown eyes, it looked like he had tried to take a selfie, but he had a blush covering his cheeks and his eyes were widened in surprise. But the thing Shiro paid the most attention to, was the fact that Avel was kissing the guy on the cheek.

 

“Wha-what? Avel?” Shiro looked at Avel who was looking lovingly but also sadly down at the couple.

 

“His name was Callum, I… I kept him a secret from the other’s, so whenever he showed up, I would quickly switch places with whoever was in control at the moment, and I made sure that none of them ever found out about him."

 

“Were you two…?”

 

“Together? Yeah…”

 

“Is that why you’ve been… pulling back? because of him?” Shiro hesitated.

 

Avel slowly nodded.

“I’m sorry, I just thought…” when thinking about it, Avel had never actually said that he liked Shiro, and he was the only one who hadn't accepted the kiss, he had just hugged him, and nothing more.

 

“Thought what?” Avel asked after Shiro hadn't continued.

 

“I'm sorry… I didn't know you were with someone else…”

 

Avel suddenly looked seconds away from crying again.

 

“The thing is… I’m not…” His voice was shaking.

 

“What? But I thought…” Shiro looked back down at the picture again.

 

“We _were_ together, but-”

 

“Did he break up with you?”

 

“No… he died…”

 

“...What?” Shiro asked quietly.

 

“...Near his house… there was a shooting, some crazy guy was waving a gun around, he killed two, and injured a cop… Callum was one of the two that died…”

 

“I… I’m so sorry…” Shiro said, and before he could think more about it, he pulled Avel into his arms.

 

He could feel his shirt get wet, as Avel’s shoulders started to shake.

 

Shiro then reached down into the bathtub and pulled Avel out and into his lap.

 

They sat there, none of them speaking, just holding each other and showing that they were there for each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was slightly rushed, but I hope it was okay.


	9. Chapter 9

Pidge was walking through the halls, trying to find somewhere she could sit in peace, since it always seemed like no matter where she went there was always someone, or someone always showed up, it was really annoying.

 

Then she stopped in front of the doors to the lounge, maybe there wasn't anyone there?

 

She opened the doors, and let’s just say that she was not ready for the sight in front of her.

 

Shiro and Lance were on the couch together.

 

Lance was lying on top of Shiro, whose hands were on Lance’s hips. Lance’s arms were wrapped around Shiro’s neck, and they were definitely making out.

 

She didn't want to look closer and try to get more details of what they were doing.

 

“Would you two stop? I don't want to have to burn that couch,” Pidge said.

 

Lance and Shiro jumped and were now looking right at her.

 

“I really like that couch actually…”

 

Lance was now sitting up, and he had a hand on Shiro’s chest, “uh… what?”

 

“I’m saying that I don't want you to fuck on the couch.”

 

She ignored the sound of Shiro wheezing, “wha- but- I… what?” Lance stuttered.

 

“I’m guessing you’re wondering how I know you two are dating, right?”

 

Lance slowly nodded.

 

“It’s pretty obvious, not only are you two constantly sending lovestruck face’s at each other, but back when we rescued you two, Shiro was pretty protective and he stood pretty close to you,” Pidge explained.

 

And then she left again.

 

“Well… it’s only been about, what, one… two weeks? And someone already found out about us…”

 

“We suck at this…”

 

“Agreed…”

  


Keith was about to go train like he always did at this time.

 

He was walking down the hall with his Bayard in hand.

 

But right as he walked by the window that did so you could look into the room, he noticed something move out of the corner of his eye.

 

Instantly he activated his Bayard.

 

But there was no one, instead, all he saw were two figures on the training deck.

 

A closer look revealed Lance and Shiro training.

 

 _‘Huh, Shiro actually got Lance to train for once’_ he thought.

 

He decided to abandon his own training so he could look at Lance and Shiro’s training instead.

 

They worked perfectly together, they looked so in sync that Keith couldn't help but feel slightly jealous.

 

When had they gotten so close?

 

Keith wasn't sure what level they were on, but together they quickly finished the level.

 

There were moments when Lance looked like he had, had a gun in his hand since he was a child, but then there were moments when he looked like he would have liked to have a sword or something else.

 

He was about to enter the room, maybe even have given a slow sarcastic clap.

 

But he stopped the moment Lance leaned up and… kissed Shiro!?

 

...What!?

 

Keith had known for a while that his ‘brother’ was crushing on Lance, but… surely he would have told him if they were dating… right?

 

He was knocked out of his thoughts when Lance quite literally was knocked against the window.

 

Oh god, they were making out on the window that Keith was looking through.

 

Luckily they stopped when Shiro pulled back slightly, “wait… shouldn't Keith start training around now?” Shiro asked, sounding out of breath.

 

Keith froze when Shiro suddenly looked over Lance’s shoulder and locked eyes with Keith.

 

They stared at each other for a bit, and at some point, Lance seemed to realize what Shiro was looking at since he turned his head to look at him as well.

 

“Uh…”

 

Keith crossed his arms, “I think you two have some explaining to do.”

 

Shiro and Lance glanced at each other, this was not going to be fun.

  


Allure was walking around the caste, checking everything, but it was mostly because one of the cameras had stopped working.

 

It was in one of the rooms with couches and a beautiful view of the galaxy surrounding them.

 

When she was younger, she would always go there whenever she needed a break from everything else.

 

But that was a long time ago.

 

Allura hadn't been able to find Coran, so she had decided to go and see what was wrong with it herself.

 

That camera was for some reason always turning on and off, but it was never for very long, this was the longest it had ever been turned off for.

 

The door slid open, and she was about to enter, but what she saw made her freeze.

 

It was Lance and Shiro… asleep.

 

Lance was sleeping on Shiro’s chest, and Shiro had one hand resting on Lance’s back.

 

She noted in thé back of her mind that they both had dried out tear tracks on their cheeks.

 

She knew that Shiro had nightmares from his time with the Galra and that Lance had some insecurities, but she never thought that they would be helping each other cope with them.

 

It was honestly kinda cute to see them like that.

 

Allura looked around, not sure who she was checking for, before checking if they were really asleep.

 

Then, she quickly pulled out her phone, and took a few pictures, she was definitely going to show these to Pidge.

 

In the end, no one heard her giggling as she left the room.

 

Later, she realized that she never fixed the camera.

  


Hunk was walking down the corridor, towards the kitchen, thinking about what he was going to be making today.

 

_‘Maybe I should try to make garlic knots again, or maybe I should try to make peanut butter cookies again, I’m sure Lance and Pidge would like that’_

 

He managed to take a few steps into the room, before noticing that he wasn't alone.

 

Cause Lance and Shiro were there first.

 

And they were kissing… in the kitchen…

 

He was about to step back out of the room, but then he realized something.

 

They were not only kissing in _his_ kitchen, but they were also doing it on the counter!

 

That was it.

 

“Get your filthy butt’s off my counter, and out of my kitchen!”

 

They jumped slightly, before reacting.

 

Lance groaned and leaned his forehead on Shiro’s shoulder, he seemed pretty tired of something, was this not the first time they had been caught?

 

Shiro just looked like he had been caught stealing from the cookie jar.

 

“And Shiro, get your hands off my best friend!”

 

Honestly, he didn't really mind if they were dating, he was actually really happy for them, but it wasn't allowed in his kitchen.

 

He would make sure to corner them later. Lance, to congratulate him, and Shiro to threaten him to make sure he treated his best friend right.

 

Shiro quickly let go and leaned away. But Lance was still clinging to him.

 

“Lance, you too”

 

Lance grumbled but eventually let go of Shiro.

 

Shiro chuckled at how cute his boyfriend was.

 

“Now…” Hunk started, and both Lance and Shiro stiffened, “when did this happen!?”

 

They both sighed dejectedly, it had only been a week since Keith had found out, and now they had to explain it again.

 

The universe really hated them, didn't it?

 

Coran was whistling a tune that Lance had thought him, it was a very cheerful one, and Coran had instantly wanted him to teach him when he heard it.

 

He had been very proud when Lance said that he was amazed by how fast Coran had learned it.

 

_‘Hmm, I wonder where that boy is now’_

 

Just as he thought that he suddenly stopped whistling, he wasn't sure, but he could have sworn that he heard something.

 

He stopped and stayed silent, listening.

 

A few ticks passed, and he heard nothing, he was about to continue walking, but then he heard it again.

 

Coran wasn't sure what it had been, but now he at least knew where the sound had come from.

 

The black paladin’s room.

 

Shiro’s room.

 

Was the poor boy having a night terror again?

 

He leaned his pointed ear against the door, and there it was again.

 

Except, it wasn't a nightmare that was for sure.

 

It sounded like that language, number 3 had told him was called; Spanish, he believed.

 

And… moans…?

 

 _‘Well… it seems like these two are bonding just fine’_ he thought.

 

And before anyone could catch him in the hallway, he quickly snuck away.

  


Lance yawned as he walked into the dining area.

 

“Morning guys…”

 

He trailed off, as he took in how they all looked.

 

To put it lightly… they looked like shit.

 

It looked like they had gotten almost no sleep.

 

And just at that moment, Shiro walked in. “Woah, what happened to you guys?”

 

“The thing that happened, was you!” Pidge declared.

 

“Uh… I’m sorry what?” Lance asked as he glanced at Shiro who shrugged.

 

“You two kept us all up, I mean, look at Keith!”

 

Keith looked a few seconds away from falling off, of his chair, but he was probably kept up by the fact that he looked like he wanted to punch one of them.

 

Or maybe them both…

 

“Uh…”

 

Shiro finally couldn't handle it anymore, “guys, what are you talking about? What did we do?”

 

“You fucked! That's what happened!” Pidge screamed.

 

Everything was silent.

 

But just then Coran decided to walk by the dining area and cheerfully said: “it wouldn't be the first time.”

 

It was silent again.

 

“I'm sorry what?”

 

Hunk and Pidge groaned.

 

Could you at least do it in Shiro’s room next time!?” Keith added, “my room is right next to your’s Lance!”

 

Lance’s and Shiro’s faces were completely red, and Lance was currently trying to hide in Shiro’s chest.

 

Shiro wished he could do the same.

 

“Well…?” Pidge dragged out as they waited for an answer.

 

“No training today!” Shiro yelled and ran out of the room, leaving Lance behind in the room with three tired and angry people.

 

“Shiro, wait for me!”

  


Shiro was nervously walking down the hall, with only one destination in mind.

 

He knew that this was probably a bad idea, but he had seen the perfect ones, so he just had to.

 

He stopped in front of one of the doors.

 

Lance’s door.

 

But what if he didn't like them, or if he rejected them?

 

His mind was filled with all kind of scenarios and way’s this could go wrong.

 

They had only been together for about two months, but Avel was still pretty shy around Shiro.

 

Then Shiro took a deep breath before knocking lightly on the door.

 

“One moment!” He heard from inside.

 

And only a few seconds later Lance was standing in the opening and looking at him.

 

And instantly all of his worries were back full force.

 

“Shiro?” Lance rubbed at his eyes, he must have been in the middle of taking a nap.

 

“Oh, uh… sorry for waking you… could I maybe- you know, come in?”

 

Lance seemed to pick up how nervous Shiro was since he quickly stepped out of the way so he could come in.

 

“What’s wrong?” Lance asked, sounding worried.

 

“Nothing, I just… do you think I could maybe talk with Avel real quick… alone?” Shiro asked.

 

Lance’s brows furrowed as he looked Shiro up and down, he took in the dirt on his knees before looking back up at him, “you’re kinda scaring him… should I be worried?”

 

“No!” Shiro shouted nervously before clearing his throat, “I promise nothing’s wrong, don't worry.”

 

Lance looked him over one more time before sighing, “fine.”

 

When he switched to Avel, Shiro quickly noted that Avel looked worried.

 

“So, uh… you wanted to talk to me?”

 

“Uh, yeah…”

 

_‘Screw it!’_

 

Avel jumped slightly when something was suddenly thrust into his face.

 

Flowers?

 

Avel reached out to grab them from Shiro’s hands.

 

There were two different types, one was black and faded into gold at the tip, while the other one was blue and just as the other one had done, it faded into gold.

 

They were beautiful.

 

“Are…” Avel gulped, “are these to me?”

 

Shiro slowly nodded, “I just kinda saw them, and I wanted to… uh, you know, I wanted to-”

 

Avel chuckled, “Shiro, they’re beautiful, thank you.”

 

“Oh, uh, hehe, you’re welcome?”

 

He was really bad at this.

 

Avel stood there and was softly touching one of the petals, it had a very sharp end, but it was extremely soft.

 

Shiro was about to say something, probably something about him having to go or something, but he was stunned into silence when Avel slowly leaned up and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.

 

He noticed that Avel hesitated slightly at first.

 

“Thank you,” he said again.

 

Shiro smiled, he had expected Avel to try and push him away again, but he was pleasantly surprised with this.

 

He decided to ignore the picture of Callum on the drawer.

 

He was going to say something, maybe some cheesy line to finish this off with a laugh.

 

But then the alarm started blaring…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's pretty obvious that the scenes where the team found out about Lance and Shiro dating were pretty rushed, but life has been pretty hard lately and it's kinda affecting my writing, so, sorry about that.
> 
> I'm guessing that there are around three or four more chapters left, except if I find more things to write of course.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to stretch over two chapters but I've just been soooo busy with life (I won a huge contest and now I'm being sent to this thing where all the winners from all over the country have to compete against each other. There are over 6000 people!!!)
> 
> It's some kind of inventing contest, where you get a problem and then you have to invent something that could help with the problem.
> 
> It's happening on Thursday, wish me luck!!!

Avel and Shiro were about to run towards the bridge when the castle suddenly lurched to the side so Avel lost his footing.

 

Shiro only just barely managed to grab Avel’s hand so he didn't fall, “are you okay?”

 

“Yeah,” Avel breathed out. “Let’s go-”

 

He was cut off by Allura who suddenly yelled over the speakers, “paladins, were being attacked, get to your lions!”

 

Shiro and Avel shared a look before quickly sprinting towards the hangars.

 

Avel hurried into Blue and quickly took off, he instantly noticed that they were surrounded by Galra ships.

 

Pidge was the last one to show up, and the second she showed up, everyone was quick to start attacking.

 

Avel did the thing with the others that he always did when they were in a battle, Avel was the one that was best at flying, Lance was the strategist while Tuyan was the fighter.

 

They worked in sync and everything was going great, until…

 

Suddenly a ship that was _much_ bigger than the others showed up, it was one of those that had an Ion cannon.

 

And it was aiming straight at Lance!

 

Shiro quickly noticed and was about to call out to him, but was interrupted by fighters coming at him.

 

He seemed to be the only one that noticed when it started to power up, and when he finally had an open spot, he quickly used it, “Lance, watch out!”

 

Lance noticed the Ion cannon only a second too late.

 

Everyone heard it when Lance screamed.

 

“Lance!”

 

Shiro was about to fly over to the now limp blue lion but was blocked by another swarm of fighters.

 

Everyone was fighting desperately to get over to Lance, but all they could do was to watch as the command ship pulled the completely still, blue lion into one of its hangars.

 

“LANCE!!” Shiro screamed.

 

And before anyone could react, the Galra disappeared as fast as they had appeared.

 

“Lance…?” He couldn't believe that Lance was gone. He couldn't believe that he had let him be taken.

 

He had let Lance, Avel, and Tuyan be taken…

 

He barely noticed when they others dragged his lion back to the castle, it was first when the others were suddenly in his lion and trying to get him to respond.

 

“Shiro? Are you okay?” Keith asked as he placed his hand on Shiro’s shoulder.

 

Shiro looked over at him and then down at the ground, “he’s gone… I let them take him…”

 

“No you didn't Shiro, it was our fault, we should have been paying better attention…” Pidge said as she looked down.

 

They were all silent as the fact that Lance was gone, sunk in.

 

“No, I’m not just going to give up on him like that!” Shiro suddenly said as he looked over at the others, “come on!”

 

Then he started to walk towards the bridge were he knew Allura and Coran would be.

 

“Shiro! Lance, he just-” “I know, and we’re gonna get him back, right now!” Shiro cut her off as he sat down in the black paladin seat, he tried to ignore the empty seat of the blue paladin.

 

“Shiro, we just finished a battle, you have to rest firs-” “we are not going to rest before Lance is back here and safe!”

 

“Shiro, you have to-” “NO!” Everyone reeled back at the shout, “I am not going to stop until Lance is back!” Shiro growled, “Pidge, locate that ship.”

 

“Okay…” Pidge said quietly as she started trying to find the ship.

 

“Shiro-” Allura paused slightly when Shiro turned to glare at her, “It’s been a long day, it’s late and we just fought the Galra off, we need to rest, we can continue to look after him tomorrow.”

 

Shiro was about to argue but before he could say a word, he was cut off, “she’s right Shiro, we’re not going to be able to find _or_ rescue him if we’re tired, we have to wait till tomorrow.” Keith reasoned.

 

“I can stay up a little longer, and I’ll let it work over the night so the chance of us finding him is much bigger, Pidge added.

 

“Don't worry Shiro, we’ll find him,” Hunk reassured him.

 

Shiro didn't say anything as everyone slowly left the bridge.

 

“Don't worry guys, I’ll find you…” Shiro said quietly, hoping it would reassure him.

 

He slowly stood up and left, not sure what to feel.

 

During the walk, he couldn't help but think about all of the things that could be happening to Lance right now, he could be tortured, forced to fight in the arena, Shiro shuddered at that one. Or worse… he could be dead already.

 

No, he had to believe that Lance was fine, he knew that they were strong, they would be fine.

 

But… what if they noticed that Lance wasn't like others, would they somehow try to use that against them?

 

He was so deep in thought that he barely noticed the fact that he had arrived at his room.

 

He stood there for a minute, he couldn't help but look down the hall were he knew Lance’s room would be.

 

He glanced back at his own room before sighing, and before he knew it, he was suddenly walking through Lance’s door.

 

He sat down on the bed and looked around shortly before taking his shirt off and lying down.

 

Shiro remembered all of the other times he had done this before, but Lance would always be there, now he just felt alone.

 

He laid there for a bit, just looking at the ceiling, and he didn't fight it when he heard sleep calling.

  


_Someone was screaming, Shiro was used to this so he knew it was himself that was screaming, probably in pain though sometimes there would be other reasons for why he was screaming, this time he knew it was because of pain, he could hear it._

 

_Wait… normally he could feel it too, why could he only hear it now?_

 

_Shiro looked over to were the screaming was coming from and was horrified of what he saw._

 

_It was Lance._

 

_He was screaming as electricity surged through him._

 

_Shiro was even more horrified when the electricity suddenly stopped and Lance went limp, for a second he thought he was dead, but then Lance turned his head towards him._

 

_“Why Shiro? Why did you let them take me…?” Lance said with a voice filled with betrayal._

 

_“I didn't mean to! I tried to save you!”_

 

_“But you didn't, and now this is your fault!” A voice boomed and Shiro looked around trying to find the voice, but the only thing he succeeded in was to turn around and notice that Lance had disappeared._

 

_“No… no, no no!” He screamed as he took in the sight before him._

 

_Lance was lying, dead in front of him…_

 

_“NO!!!”_

  


Shiro shot up in the bed, it took some time, but eventually, he noticed that he was back in the castle. Back in Lance’s room.

 

He tried to catch his breath but found that it was hard, he looked around for something to help calm him down.

 

His eyes caught the silhouette of something sitting on the drawer, it was small, and honestly, Shiro didn't really care what it was as he stumbled over to it.

 

He cradled whatever it was to his chest, and all he really noticed was that it smelled like Lance. He slowly slid to the ground and leaned his back against the drawer.

 

After calming down, he slowly opened his eyes and looked down at the thing he had been cradling.

 

It was a blue lion plushie, Shiro looked down at the smiling face of the lion and couldn't help but think that it reminded him of Lance, was this the thing he had been working on lately?

 

He didn't know what time it was that he woke up at, but he knew that a few hours passed before he finally got up from the floor.

 

When he checked the time, he realized that it was almost noon, so he quickly got dressed and left.

 

But right before he left, he couldn't help but look at the plushie one more time. Then he slowly put it down on the bed so it was leaning on the pillow and smiling halfway at Shiro and half at the ceiling.

 

Then he left.

  


He knew everyone noticed the bags under his eyes, but no one said anything, and for that he was grateful.

 

He didn't say anything when Pidge revealed that she hadn't been able to locate the ship, and he could tell that Pidge was nervous of telling him, and she was even more nervous when his expression didn't change.

 

“It’s fine Pidge… don't worry…”

 

It wasn't fine, but he didn't say that.

 

“Maybe we should try to locate the blue lion instead? That might work,” Hunk said and they both quickly got to work.

 

Shiro noticed when Keith walked towards him, “are you sure you’re okay? I know this can't be easy on you-”

 

“I’m fine Keith…”

 

“...Okay, if you’re sure…” Keith said slowly.

  


It continued this way for a whole week, with Pidge and Hunk saying that they hadn't been able to locate Lance or the blue lion.

 

Until…

  


Shiro jumped awake when the alarms started blaring, “Guys, wake up! We found the blue lion!”

 

As soon as Shiro heard this, he was instantly awake and pulling his shirt down over his head.

 

Had they really found Lance?

 

He was scared to get his hopes up.

 

Shiro quickly ran to the bridge where Pidge and Hunk were trying to explain to Keith how they had located Lance, though Keith just looked confused.

 

“Shiro, it is good to see you here so quickly, we need to come up with a plan before we’re noticed by them,” Allura said as she glanced towards the screen where he could see a big Galra ship.

 

But it was clear that it wasn't the one that had captured Lance, so they must have transferred him to this ship.

 

“Okay-”

 

They spent some time to come up with a plan, Allura and Coran were going to stay hidden, expect if they got caught, then they would start shooting at the ship and fighters to distract them a bit.

While the paladins would sneak onto the ship by using the green lions cloaking, then Pidge would hack into the ship to try and locate Lance, then they would rescue him and take off.

 

After that, Shiro was probably going to rip the ship to shreds.

 

Though he didn't include that in the plan.

 

They quickly got to work, and before they knew it, they were onboard the ship.

 

They quietly snuck down the hall, trying to avoid anyone. It didn't take long for them to reach the bridge(?), were they quickly destroyed to sentries, and then Pidge quickly started to try and locate Lance’s location.

 

It took longer than Shiro liked but eventually, Pidge managed to get a lead as to where Lance might be held.

 

“Well, let’s go then!”

  


They were running through the halls, following Pidge’s map that was displayed on her wrist, “we should be there soon, just right around this corner…”

 

Shiro was the first one to round the corner, he didn't even care if there were guards or sentries.

 

Though one of the last things he had expected, was to suddenly run into someone.

 

He took a step back and readied his arm.

 

But then he noticed tan skin and brown hair…

 

Lance!

 

But… why were there three Lance’s?


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uh... I didn't win. I already knew that I didn't have a chance, especially considering the fact that there were 12.000 people! I know that I told you there were 6000 people, but I guess I was wrong.  
> And on top of that, I also got really sick...!
> 
> I AM MISERABLE!!!
> 
> Anyway, my life has been so busy lately and I have almost no time to write, but I still try my best to get chapters out every Monday.

There, right in front of Shiro… stood three Lance’s.

 

Or, well… there stood two Lance’s since one of them was seemingly passed out in one of the other’s arms.

 

His eyes quickly fell on the sword that was being held by the Lance who wasn't carrying the third one.

 

“Shiro?” One of them asked (the one with the passed out Lance).

 

“Uh-”

 

He was cut off by the sound of a Bayard being turned on, he looked back, just to see that Keith and Pidge had activated their Bayards.

 

Hunk hesitated.

 

The Lance with a sword growled and stepped in front of the others.

 

Shiro quickly reacted by stepping in between them, “guy’s, wait-”

 

“Get out of the way Shiro,” Keith growled as he took another step forward.

 

Shiro could feel the Lance’s stiffen behind him.

 

Shiro looked behind him, just to see that the one with a sword was still glaring at Keith, while the one that was cradling the unconscious one was looking at  _ him _ , and he just had such a familiar expression that a shudder went through Shiro.

 

“Avel…?” Shiro asked quietly, making sure that the rest of the paladins couldn't hear him.

 

Now that he took the time to actually look, he noticed that ‘Avel’ had a scar that started on his left cheek and ended by his upper lip.

 

Avel slowly nodded before looking back down at the unconscious form in his arms.

 

Shiro looked over at the one with the sword and then back at the one in Avel’s arms.

 

“Lance…” Shiro whispered in realization, Lance looked exactly like he normally did, except for the obvious bags under his eyes.

 

“Shiro” Keith called again. Shiro looked back at him, “get back here.”

 

Shiro furrowed his brows, “what, no.”

 

“Shiro, they made freaking clones of Lance!” Pidge shouted.

 

Shiro glanced back at the three, and he was about to say something when suddenly the alarm started blaring.

 

“Dammit, it’s probably their fault,” Pidge growled as she pointed her Bayard at Avel and Tuyan.

 

Shiro wanted to defend them, but he knew that they didn't have very long before they would be stormed by guards and sentries.

 

And almost as if they had heard his thoughts, Allura started yelling at them over the comms.

 

_ “Paladins, we've been found, you have to get back to the castle, did you find Lance?” _

 

“Uh, yeah, but we have a bit of a problem,” Hunk responded.

 

_ “Whatever it is will have to wait until you’re back on the castle.” _

 

“Yeah, okay, uhh… I’m not sure if that is a good idea.”

 

_ “Get back here right now! We’ll talk later!” _ Allura screamed at them, making everyone (minus Avel and Tuyan) flinch.

 

“Come on,” Shiro said to Tuyan and Avel.

 

“But Shiro-” Keith started.

 

“I said, come on.” He said, more strictly this time as he glared at Keith.

 

Keith, Pidge, and Hunk glanced at each other, but after getting shouted at by Allura again, they quickly turned and started to run towards the exit.

 

Shiro noticed that Avel was having trouble keeping up with the others, Tuyan had obviously noticed too, since he was seemingly glued to his side.

 

Shiro slowed down so he was running next to Avel, “let me take him, Avel.”

 

Avel seemed to hesitate, but after giving him a look over and receiving a reassuring smile, he let Shiro take him so he could hurry up a bit more.

 

Shiro was noticeably stronger than Avel, so it was much easier to catch up with the others for him than it had been for Avel.

But he still made sure to stick by Tuyan and Avel.

 

When they reached the green lion, they were quick to get onto it, but Pidge hesitated a bit when Tuyan and Avel went in too.

 

No one said anything as they quickly flew back to the castle, making sure to avoid fighters and stray shots.

 

As soon as they landed in the hangar, Shiro was quick to notify Allura that everyone was onboard.

 

He heard her sigh in relief as she started making a wormhole to fly through to get away from the Galra.

 

“Is everyone oka-” she cut herself off when she noticed that, instead of  _ one _ Lance, there was in fact  _ three _ .

 

She instantly got into a defensive stance, and that seemed like the sign Pidge was looking for since she quickly activated her Bayard again and shot it at Tuyan.

 

It wrapped around him, and before he could even react, Keith suddenly pushed him, so he was thrown into Avel.

 

And then Pidge shocked them.

 

Shiro was horrified at them screams, reminding him of his nightmares.

 

“Stop!” He yelled as he ran over to rip the Bayard out of Pidge’s hand. “What are you doing!?”

 

“We can't trust them, what if the Galra-” “the Galra didn't do anything to them!”

 

Pidge reeled back at the shout.

 

“Shiro! We can't know if these… clones. Are friendly!” Shiro growled when Allura said it with as much disgust as she could.

 

Shiro decided to ignore her as he walked over to the now unconscious, Avel and Tuyan.

 

He ignored the shouts for him to stop as he crouched down to brush some of Tuyans hair out of his face.

 

Now that he had time to look closer at Tuyan, he noticed that his bangs were dyed a slightly greyish blue, it seemed to grow into his hair in such a beautiful way that Shiro couldn't help but run his fingers through it.

 

“Shiro, I know you and Lance are… close, but you have to understand that these-” she cut herself off when she noticed Shiro glaring at her again, “you have to understand that we can't trust them.”

 

Shiro growled, he wanted to tell the others about Tuyan and Avel, but he wanted to talk to them and Lance about it first.

 

“What about this one? I mean, he looks identical to Lance, do you guys think this might be the real one?” Pidge asked as she nudged Lance with her foot.

 

Shiro had quickly sat him down in his chair when he noticed what was happening with Avel and Tuyan.

 

Shiro held in another growl.

 

“Okay…” Shiro breathed out as the others turned to him, “okay, let’s just put them in a healing pod, okay? We’ll talk to them when they wake up again.”

 

“Wait, we’re going to put those two in one too?” Hunk asked.

 

“Yes Hunk, we’re gonna put them in a pod too,” Shiro said through gritted teeth.

  
  


The time it took for them to bring Lance, Avel, and Tuyan, to the healing pods, seemed to blur together, and before Shiro knew of it, he was suddenly standing in front of the three pods.

 

“So, uh… what do we do now?” Pidge asked.

 

“We wait,” Shiro answered without hesitation.

 

The others shared looks behind his back as they stood there for a few (awkward) moments.

 

“Well, uh… I think I’m going to go train,” Keith said awkwardly.

 

“Yeah… uh, can I come with you?” Hunk asked nervously.

 

“Sure…”

 

Shiro and Pidge didn't say anything as Keith and Hunk left.

 

Honestly, the only thing Pidge wanted to, was to experiment and try to find the reason for why there was suddenly three Lance’s instead of only the one goofball that they all knew. But she knew, that if she even tried to get closer to the pods, then Shiro would probably growl at her again, and she did  _ not _ want that.

 

So she decided that she would rather stay up all night, looking for Matt and her father again, than be at the end of Shiro’s fury.

 

Shiro first moved when he was sure that no one was left in the room.

 

The second he was alone, he sighed and looked up at the pods again.

Looking at the three figures that were floating around inside, unknown of the outside world.

 

Unknown of the inner struggle inside of Shiro.

 

He slowly walked over to the pods and sat down, he needed to talk to them before the others could, and if he had to sit there the entire time, then so be it.

  
  
  


I turned out that he, in fact, had to sit there until morning.

 

He was seconds away from falling asleep when he heard the familiar sound of the pods opening.

 

He was instantly awake and up to catch whoever it was that was the first one to fall out of the pod.

 

And it just so happened to be Lance that was stumbling into his arms.

 

“Shiro…?” Lance asked sounding tired.

 

Shiro couldn't fault him for that.

 

“Yes, yes it's me!” Shiro hurriedly responded as he lowered them back to the ground, holding Lance against his chest. “You’re safe now, you’re home and you’re safe.”

 

Lance chuckled slightly as he tiredly patted Shiro on the back.

 

“Hey, it’s okay big guy, don't worry, we’re here now, we’re-” Lance suddenly seemed to realize something. “Guys? Wha- what's going in, why can't I hear- where are they!?” Lance screamed as he started to look around frantically as tears started dripping down his cheeks.

 

“Shiro! Where’s-” “Shh, it’s okay, they're right there, look.”

 

Shiro pointed at the two other occupied healing pods.

 

Lance stared for a minute, “wha- I- what? How?” He looked to Shiro for answers.

 

Shiro sadly shook his head, “I don't know.”

 

They sat still, letting the situation sink in, they really had no idea what to do.

 

They jumped when they heard another one of the pods open.

 

It was Avel.

 

“Avel!”

 

“Avel?”

 

“Shiro? Lance?”

 

Everyone was talking at the same time.

 

“How is this even possible!?” Lance screamed.

 

Shiro shushed him, and when Lance looked at him confused he quickly explained that he didn't want there to be a chance for someone to hear them and walk in.

 

Lance nodded in understanding as he looked back at Avel, “how is this possible?” He asked again, this time quieter.

 

“I’m not sure, but I’m pretty sure that it had something to do with the tests that the Galra were always performing on us-” Shiro cut him off, “they performed tests on you!?”

 

“I thought we were supposed to be quiet…”

 

“Yes Shiro, you didn't really think that they would just pop us in a cell and then leave us there to rot did you?” Avel asked as he put his hands on his hips.

 

Shiro definitely didn't follow the movement with his eyes before they fell back to the floor.

 

“Well, I mean…” Shiro tried not to think back to his nightmares.

 

Avel sighed, “I’m sorry, I’m just tired, please don't listen to m-”

 

He was cut off when a body suddenly dropped next to them.

 

Guess they forgot to listen for when Tuyan was ready to get out of his pod too.

 

“Are you oka-” Shiro stopped instantly when Tuyan suddenly jumped up, “where am I? Where's Lance and Ave-”

 

He stopped when he noticed the fact that they were all standing and looking slightly down at him.

 

_ ‘Huh, I didn't know Tuyan was shorter than the others’ _

 

Tuyan, was in fact, only as tall as Keith.

 

Maybe even a little shorter

 

“Aww,” Shiro decided to ignore Lance, who looked seconds away from running over to Avel and just crushing him in a hug.

 

“Are you two okay? No, wait, scratch that, are you three okay?” Tuyan asked as he ran over to the group.

 

“Uh, Shiro…? Are you okay?”

 

Shiro was blushing furiously, who would have thought that he could be so cute with that height?”

 

“I’m fine, don't worry about me,” Shiro shook his head, “now, uh, you guys should probably know that everyone thinks you two are clones, and I wanted to ask if we should tell them... about, well, you know...”

 

Lance and Avel looked at each other, seemingly having a silent conversation, while Tuyan was looking (hilariously) furious.

 

Shiro wanted to kiss the pout away.

 

But he decided that it could wait till after they had sorted all of this out.

 

“I, uh… I would kind of like it if we maybe kept it a secret, but at the same time, I don't want them to think that they’re Galra clones…” Lance said sadly as he looked at the floor.

 

Shiro went over to wrap an arm around Lance’s waist, “hey, it’s okay if you don't want to tell them, we’re just going to have to find another solution.”

 

Lance leaned into his broad chest and sighed.

 

Shiro could see that the others were holding themselves back.

 

He sighed with a small smile on his lips, “come here you two.”

 

He almost fell over when his arms were suddenly holding three people.

 

He sighed again and rested his head on the closest person, which ended up being Avel, who was also slightly taller than the others.

 

He had a feeling that Lance was going to complain about that later.

 

And he knew that later on, he would eventually have to confront the others. Though for now, he decided that he was just going to enjoy this.

 

Of course, that was the moment that the others decided to walk in.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty sure that there are some problems with my computer since a lot of stuff isn't working correctly. I don't know if this will affect the story or not so please tell me if you noticed something weird.

“Oh, they’re awake…” Allura pointed out when she entered the med bay.   


  
Shiro scowled at her tone but didn't say anything.   


  
“Yes, we’re awake,” Tuyan repeated her as he crossed his arms and glared.   


  
Shiro put a hand on his shoulder to show that he needed to calm down, or else it could easily get worse than it already was.   


  
“So, uh… what are we gonna do with them now?” Hunk asked.   


  
“Stop talking about them like they aren't here!” Lance yelled, “they’re right here!” He gestured to the two almost identical people next to him.   


  
The others ignored him.   


  
“Well, I was planning on maybe doing a few experiment and test to, you know, find the reason for why there are suddenly three of them!” Pidge exclaimed.   
  


Shiro could feel Avel tense next to him, and he himself felt uncomfortable and angry.   
  


“We are not, going to experiment on them!” He put his other hand on Avel’s shoulder, hoping to bring a little comfort to his distressed boyfriend.   
  


‘Wait, are we even boyfriends? I don't think we ever got that confirmed…’   
  


Allura seemed to scowl when Shiro placed his hand on one of the ‘clones’ shoulders.   
  


“Okay! Fine, calm down,” Pidge quickly said as she raised her hands in surrender.   
  


Lance sighed which seemed to catch the attention of the others.   
  


“Oh, Lance!” Hunk erupted into a smile as he ran over to Lance and grabbed his arms, “are you okay? Wait, are you even you!?” He took a step back again.   
  


Lance blinked, “oh, uh… I’m pretty sure I’m me?” He said sounding slightly confused.   
  


“So, uh… are you, you?” Hunk asked again.   
  


“…Yes Hunk, I’m me,” Lance deadpanned as he rose an eyebrow.   
  


His breath was knocked out of him when Hunk hugged him tightly. “Oh, I’m so glad that you’re okay and that you’re not a clone!”   
  


That sentence angered Lance, so Hunk was shocked when Lance suddenly pushed him away. At first, he thought that he had been hugging Lance too tightly, but then he saw Lance’s angered expression.   
  


Lance didn't say anything as he walked back over to Shiro, so Shiro could put his hand on his waist and hug him sideways.   
  


No one said anything as they watched the exchange between the two lovers.   
  


Then Avel and Tuyan decided to magically appear behind them with hopeful expressions on their face’s.   
  


Lance startled slightly, but Shiro just laughed out loud as he scooped them into the hug with his other hand.   
  


They ignored the uncomfortable and angry expressions being sent to them by the rest of the team.   
  


“Anyway! Uh… what now?” Hunk asked hoping that someone would give him a good answer.   
  


No one did… they didn't say anything in fact.   
  


“Well, I think I’m gonna show you guys your rooms, I mean, if you’re going to stay this way then you should at least have a room to yourself,” Shiro said as he started to walk towards the door with the three Lance’s next to him.   
  


“But I want to stay with you!” Lance whined as he leaned against Shiro’s shoulder.   
  


“But you’re the one who already has a room, oooooh can I have it!” Tuyan said.   
  


“No! It’s mine!”   
  


“But you just said-”   
  


“None of you are going to get a room, unless you plan on it being the cells, then they aren't staying in one,” Allura stepped in front of them trying to stop them from going through the door, but she was shocked when Shiro just pushed past her and dragged the others through it too.   
  


Lance sent her a slight sorry look, but other than that didn't say or do anything.   
  


There was silence in the med bay as the others scrambled to find the right words for the situation.   
  


“So uh… I guess they’re staying?” Keith said though it sounded more like a question.   
  


“For now…” Allura said slowly as she glared at the door.   
  


Pidge and Hunk wanted to say something, after all, the clones hadn't actually done anything yet.   
  


But they kept quiet.   
  
  
Shiro, Avel, Tuyan, and Lance were walking through the halls as they were looking at rooms. Avel and Tuyan were currently arguing over who got the room next to Shiro, while Lance was pouting over the fact that his room was in another hall and that it was next to Keith’s.   
  


Meanwhile, Shiro was trying not to say that there was, in fact, two free rooms next to his.   
  


“Wait! I have a solution!” Lance shouted, efficiently catching the attention of the others. “What if we shared a room, I mean, we used to share a body it would technically be the same way it was before then… plus, I don't really want to sleep without you guys…”   
  


“Aww, Lance don't worry, of course, we could do that,” Avel put a hand on Lance’s shoulder and smiled down at him as Lance smiled back up at him.   
  


Shiro couldn't help but think that they were like brothers, Avel was like the big brother while Tuyan was the fussing little brother.   
  


It was adorable.   
  


But… does that make the relationship awkward?   
  


“Thank you, Avel- wait a second… are you taller than me!?” And there it was… Shiro knew that it was going to happen at some time.   
  


“Oh, uh… hehe,” Avel chuckled nervously before suddenly picking Tuyan up and putting him in front of Lance, “TUYAN’S SMALLER, LOOK HOW CUTE HE IS- PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!!!”   
  


Shiro was laughing his ass off while Avel was screeching and Lance was trying to get around a dead-faced Tuyan so he could get to Avel and kill him for being taller than him.   
  


Why? He wasn't really sure…   
  


Shiro continued to laugh for a while but he opened his eyes again when he realized that the noise had stopped.   
  


When he opened his eyes he was met with three almost identical faces with a blush covering their cheeks as they stared at Shiro.   
  


And now his own face was starting to heat up too, why were they blushing!?   
  


“Do you have any idea how cute that is?” Avel asked as he stared at Shiro. “You should laugh more you know?”   
  


Shiro didn't say anything as he looked at the door that he was leaning against, it was his own. He hadn't even realized that they had made it to his room already.   
  


He cleared his throat before speaking, “so uh… which room would you guys want?”   
  


“Wha- you didn't tell us that there were two rooms!” “Lance… almost every room have two of them next to each other…” “Oh, uh… right…”   
  


“So, we really doing the sharing a room thing?” Tuyan asked as he looked at the others, running a hand through his dyed hair.   
  


“I mean, I guess. Yeah, we are,” Avel replied as he looked at one of the doors.   
  


“Let’s take the right one-”   
  


“Let's take the left one-”   
  


Shiro looked at the three as they shared confused glances… or more like, Tuyan and Lance were looking judgingly at Avel who looked like he was trying to hide in the collar of the healing suit that he had been put into right before he was placed in a healing pod.   
  


He really needed to get them their own clothes.   
  


“I guess we're taking the right one then!” Avel said awkwardly as he marched into the room without looking back at the group.   
  


Lance raised a brow as Tuyan walked in after him.   
  


The room was barren, no surprise there since no one had ever been in the room before.   
  


“So, let’s get to decorating and setting up!” Lance started as he put his hands on his hips.   
  


“Maybe we should wait with decorating until we actually have a place to sleep yet since I doubt we would all be able to fit on the bed,” Avel reasoned as he walked over to sit on the bed.   
  


But he was surprised when Tuyan, suddenly jumped onto him so his back hit the bed, “look, we do fit!”   
  


“You are literally sitting on my chest… I am not going to sleep like this.” Avel sighed, “besides, were would Lance sleep?”   
  


The second he said that he regretted it because the second these words left his mouth, Lance was suddenly sitting on Tuyans back.   
  


Avel let out a wheeze at the weight on his chest, meanwhile, Tuyan didn't seem to mind the awkward bent over position he had to sit in for Lance to be able to sit on his back.   
  


Shiro had a weird expression as he looked at the trio who were currently fooling around.   
  


“Now we all fit!” Lance smirked as he looked down at the glaring Avel.   
  


Though he was glad when he noticed that there was a slight tilt to the corner of his lip making it look like he was fighting down a smile.   
  


“Okay, that's it!” Avel said when he had caught his breath again.   
  


And then he flipped the others around so he was on top of the two others.   
  


And now Lance was wheezing, while Tuyan seemed fine with the new position as he leaned back into Lance and raised a brow at Avel who was laughing out loud now.   
  


“goddammit…” Lance groaned before locking eyes with Shiro who was looking longingly at the pile on the bed, “Shiro! Help. Me!”   
  


That seemed to knock Shiro out of whatever fantasy he had been in the middle of.   
  


Then he walked over to the bed and sat down, Lance was about to start complaining and demanding again, when Shiro grabbed him by his shoulders and dragged him out from underneath Avel and Tuyan.   
  


Lance was about to say something, probably about how he should use some of that strength on him later, but he got silent when Shiro pulled him against his chest and buried his face in Lance’s neck.   
  
Lance wanted to giggle, but something told him that something was wrong.   
  


“Shiro? Are you okay?” He asked worryingly as he felt Shiro let out a breath against his neck.   
  


“I was really worried about you guys…” Shiro said quietly, “I thought I was never going to see you again…”   
  


“Hey, Shiro, It’s okay, we’re right here, we’re okay…” Avel and Tuyan had gotten up from the position they were in before and were now sitting over by Shiro who was holding onto Lance tightly.   
  


“I know… I just…”   
  


“Hey, it’s okay, you don't have to say anything.”   
  


Shiro let out a breath, he didn't want to ruin their fun…   
  


So when he felt Lance shudder slightly, he quickly got an idea to get the fun atmosphere back.   
  


Or maybe a different atmosphere…   
  


So he started to plant kisses all over Lance’s neck.   
  


He didn't have to look to know that Lance’s face was beet red.   
  


“You just couldn't help yourself could you…?” Avel said with a disappointed expression as he looked at the red-faced Lance and Shiro who was obviously doing something that he shouldn't be doing…   
  


Shiro looked up slightly as he smirked against the skin on Lance’s neck.   
  


“I want kisses too!” Tuyan fussed.   
  


Shiro chuckled and leaned over to give him a quick peck on the cheek.   
  


“That okay?”   
  


Tuyan was blushing at just that small gesture, “yeah…”   
  


The three smiled at each other, while Avel was smiling at them.   
  


“Well,” Avel said loudly to get their attention again, and that he did, “how about we get some clothes since I have to admit it isn't very comfortable to walk around in these, especially for such a long time.”   
  


The others quickly agreed.   
  


  
This was one of the great things about the castle, the closet had so many different kinds of clothes, it was like it was magic.   


  
Though Shiro suspected that all of the closets in the castle were connected since he had once gotten Allura’s dress instead of his own vest.   
  


And in this situation it was clear that Lance, Avel, and Tuyan were all very alike in the clothes section, he thought as he watched the trio try on lots of different clothes and squealing about how cute they were, and if they fitted their style or not.   
  


Lance didn't have to since he already had his own set of clothes, though he would gladly help the others with trying to find the right outfit.   


 

Shiro was standing outside in the hall since he hadn't been allowed to see them until they were done.   
  


It seemed like forever before the door finally opened again.   
  


“Finally-” when he turned around he wasn't sure why he stopped mid-sentence, but it was probably because of the sight in front of him.   
  


Tuyan had picked a very short t-shirt with the number 666 on it, it fit him nicely but Shiro was getting distracted by the fact that he could clearly see his stomach.   
  


It was a light grey, but the numbers seemed… pink?   
  


And he was wearing black jeans that seemed a little too tight.   
  


Tuyan was pointedly not looking at Shiro or the grinning Lance.   
  


Avel was wearing a black t-shirt that had a picture of a… Shiro wasn't sure if it was a Chinese dragon or a wolf, but it was only a white outline, so it only made it harder to see the difference.   
  


And then he was wearing shorts, showing of his long legs.   
  


Shiro would like to point out that his outfit made it seem like he had more curves than he actually had.   
  


So to say it shortly… they were really cute looking.   
  


“So, uh… what do you think?” He wasn't sure which one of them it had been that said that, but he definitely knew what to answer.   


  
“Why are all of you so cute!?” He screeched.   



	13. Chapter 13

The next morning was every definition of awkward.

 

If Shiro thought it was bad by just him entering the dining room to get breakfast, then it was so much worse when the others entered together.

 

Lance sat on his right side and Tuyan sat on his left, while Avel was on Lance’s other side.

 

The rest of the team sat on the exact opposite side of the table.

 

Which was probably a bad idea, since now they didn't really have any other choice than to look at the four.

 

Hunk and Pidge were the only ones who would sometimes look at them, while Keith and Allura were staring into their food.

 

Coran wasn't even there.

 

The silence wasn't the nice kind of silence, it was more of an awkward and tense one.

  
  


After breakfast, it was time for morning training.

 

Shiro had tried to convince Lance to take a break, but he knew that he couldn't stop him from coming to train with them. Avel was sitting by the wall and was watching them, while Tuyan wasn't even in the room…

 

Maybe he was tired?

 

Shiro knew that Avel was looking at him more than he was looking at the others, and that made him want to show off to impress him, but he knew that the other would notice, and he doubted that they would approve of that.

 

So he kept with fighting like normal.

 

Though he might have flexed his arms a little more than normal.

 

When he looked over he could see that Avel had, in fact, noticed, and all he got in response was an eye-roll.

 

Though he didn't miss the little smile.

  
  


After probably the most silent morning training ever, Shiro decided that he was going to go see how Tuyan was doing.

 

When he reached the door, he gently knocked with his knuckles, “Tuyan? You weren't at morning practice, I know you and Avel aren't allowed to train, but you were still allowed to show up.”

 

He waited in silence for a bit, before the door finally slid open.

 

Tuyan quickly walked back to sit on his bed (they had managed to get two more beds into the room and pushed them together, so it was almost like it was one bed) after he had opened the door for Shiro.

 

Shiro didn't say anything, he just slowly walked over to sit down next to Tuyan, “hey, are you okay?” He asked slowly when Tuyan didn't say anything or look up at him.

 

“Yeah, uh… I guess?” It was clear that it hadn't been supposed to sound like a question, but as always, Tuyan was horrible at lying.

 

“Tuyan…”

 

Tuyan sighed, “I, uh…”

 

Shiro waited patiently.

 

“I guess there are two things bothering me…”

 

Shiro nodded to show that he was listening.

 

“I just… fighting… I guess, it kinda makes me… nervous?” Tuyan started, “I just… uh, with the Galra… I kinda had to… fight in the arena-”

 

“What!?”

 

Tuyan flinched slightly at his loud yell.

 

“Sorry, I’m just…” Shiro started to apologize, but he cut himself off with a sigh.

 

Tuyan leaned into his side when Shiro put his arm around his shoulders.

 

“It wasn't that much, I mostly stayed in a cell so…”

 

“Tuyan it doesn't matter if you were only there a few times, you still got sent out there, and that is not okay…” Shiro said quietly as he looked down at the person curled into his chest.

 

“I mean… I’m pretty sure it was worse for Avel since he was always-” Tuyan cut himself off before he could say something that he would regret later.

 

Now Shiro was even more concerned, “what happened to Avel?”

 

Tuyan just bit his lip and kept quiet.

 

“Tuyan, what happened to Avel!”

 

“I’m not sure! All I know is that he was always taken away, and would first come back multiple hours later, I don't know what happened to him!” Now Tuyan seemed angry.

 

Shiro looked at him for a few seconds, before sighing, “I’m sorry. I’m just really worried about you three…”

 

Tuyan’s face slowly softened, and then he looked down.

 

“Can you… can you tell me what happened to Lance?”

 

Tuyan didn't say anything for a few seconds, and then he started talking, “nothing really. After we were… separated, they just kinda threw him in a cell and left him there, he didn't wake up, and most of the time, I thought he was dead…”

 

Shiro wrapped his arm around Tuyan again, though this time, it was around his waist.

 

Tuyan smiled slightly as he leaned against the older man.

 

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, just reassuring each other.

 

After a while, Shiro finally broke the silence, “what… what was the other thing that bothered you?”

 

He had almost forgotten that there was another thing that was bothering him.

 

“I, uh…”

 

“You don't have to tell me if you’re not comfortable with it- I should probably have said that before huh?” Shiro gave a slight chuckle as he looked away.

 

Tuyan licked his lips before answering, “I’m… not sure how to say this, but, uh… I… miss the others…”

 

Shiro looked at Tuyan with a questioning look, “Lance and Avel?”

 

Tuyan nodded.

 

“But, if you miss them, can't you just go see them?” Shiro asked.

 

“No, not like that… I mean that I miss… being with them you know?”

 

“You mean, like how you were before the Galra took you?”

 

Tuyan gave a small nod.

 

“…I think you should probably tell them about this too,” Shiro told him with a comforting smile.

 

“But what if they like being this way! What if they don't want to go back to how we were!” He gasped, “what if we can't go back to how we were! I mean, it’s nice having my own body and not having to share  _ everything _ with them, but I just- I… I miss it… I miss  _ them _ …”

 

Tuyan looked like he was about to start crying.

 

Shiro wasn't sure what he was supposed to do, he had never been in  _ this  _ type of situation before.

 

But he knew that he had to comfort his distressed boyfriend.

 

So that's what he did.

 

They sat there for what seemed like hours but was probably only a few minutes.

 

Eventually, Tuyan slowly leaned back, like he didn't want to, but he knew that he had to.

 

“Tuyan?” Shiro asked gently, and Tuyan hesitantly looked up at him, “do you want to talk with the other about this, or…”

 

Tuyan bit his lower lip, but slowly nodded, “yeah, I guess that would be for the best, huh…”

 

“You don't have to if you don't want to.”

 

“No, I want to,” now Tuyan looked sure and confident, though still a bit nervous.

 

Shiro looked him over one last time, “okay.”

  
  


When Shiro and Tuyan left the room and started to walk down the hall, the last thing they had expected, was to hear shouting coming from the common room.

 

When they ran in, after sharing a look, they hadn't expected the scene they were going to arrive at.

 

Avel and Keith were fighting while Lance was trying to keep them apart.

 

Well, they weren't really fighting, but it looked like they had been arguing.

 

“What is going on here?” Shiro asked.

 

Lance let out a huge sigh of relief when he saw Shiro and Tuyan, “Shiro, help me!”

 

Avel was still glaring at Keith who was glaring right back, while Lance’s hands on their chest were the only thing keeping them from actually attacking each other.

 

Shiro quickly walked over to push them away so Lance didn't have to hold them apart anymore. “What is going on?” He asked again.

 

No one responded, Keith just looked away while Avel kept glaring at him.

 

When Shiro realized that he wasn't going to get an answer, he sighed and said; “Lance, Avel, we need to talk to you two…”

 

Avel looked up at him and nodded, then he walked out of the door to wait for them.

 

Lance was about to go with him, but then he turned to Keith, “I’m sorry about that…”

 

Keith blinked and turned to Lance with a confused expression, “what?”

 

“I’m sorry about that,” Lance repeated.

 

Keith’s brows furrowed, “I, what… I thought that you… never mind…”

 

“...Okay?”

 

And with those words, he turned back to the door and Shiro who was looking at the exchange with a raised brow.

 

When they got into the hall, it was clear that both Tuyan and Avel were uncomfortable.

 

Tuyan because of the conversation they were about to have, and Avel because of the situation with Keith.

 

They started walking in silence.

 

“So, uh… where were you two?” Lance finally asked, “we couldn't find you…”

 

“Oh, well, I went back to you guys room and found Tuyan there, then we-”

 

“Wait, hold on, you two. Alone. In our room?” Lance asked suspiciously.

 

“Yeah…?” Tuyan didn't seem to know what Lance was going.

 

“Did you two…” he wiggled his eyebrows, and then Shiro went red.

 

_ ‘Oh’ _

 

“No we didn't, we were just talking!” He was pretty sure he screamed.

 

“Yeah, talking with your dicks-”

 

“Lance!”

 

Avel was laughing (traitor), while Tuyan finally seemed to realize what they were implying.

 

“Wait…” Avel finally calmed down enough to be able to talk, “how, uh, how do we actually… you know… uh…”

 

Shiro didn't think it was possible for his face to get redder, “I think that is a conversation for later…”

 

Everyone nodded, except for Lance who was grinning widely.

  
  


Shiro could feel Tuyan tense more and more the closer they got to the door, and by the time they stood right in front of the door, the others had noticed too.

 

“Hey, Tuyan? Is it about the thing that you had to tell us because if it is, then don't worry, whatever it is, we won't be mad.” Avel always seemed to know what to say.

 

It was funny how in the beginning, he had been shy and quiet, and now he was the one who held the group together.

 

He had really evolved.

 

Or maybe Shiro had just gotten to know him better, and gotten Avel to trust him more.

 

“Yeah, uh, I’m just… I don't know, I guess… Yeah, I’m worried…” Tuyan finally said.

 

Avel didn't say anything, he just put an arm around his shoulders and walked into the room with him.

 

Shiro could tell that the kind smile was slowly making Tuyan relax again.

 

Soon all four of them were sitting on the bed and Lance and Avel were looking expectingly at Shiro and Tuyan.

 

“So… what was it that you had to tell us?” Lance asked.

 

Shiro looked down at Tuyan who was biting his lower lip, “do you want me to tell them, or…”

 

“No, I… I want to tell them,” Tuyan finally looked up.

 

Lance and Avel both looked worried, what had caused Tuyan to be like this.

 

He took a deep breath and started talking; “I miss… I miss us being one, I mean, it’s nice being separated for once, but… I want us to be how we were before…”

 

It was silent for a bit.

 

Tuyan was starting to look like he was about to cry again.

 

“Oh, thank god, I thought I was the only one who felt like that.”

 

Tuyan looked up in surprise.

 

“I’ve wanted to tell you guys for a while, but I was scared that you didn't feel like that.”

 

Lance and Avel looked so relieved that they weren't the only ones feeling like that.

 

Tuyan was so relieved that he slumped into Shiro’s chest with a deep sigh.

 

“But… is there even a way for that to be possible, I mean how do we know if it’s even possible?” As soon as he said that, he regretted it.

 

“We…” Avel had to repeat what he said since his voice cracked, “we just have to hope and start looking…”

 

Shiro finally decided that it had been quiet enough when no one replied, so he tucked Tuyan further into his side, and then he dragged the others over to him so Avel was tucked into his other side while Lance was leaning against his chest.

 

“We’ll figure something out… don't worry…”


	14. Chapter 14

“Pidge?”

 

Pidge looked up from her laptop when she heard the sound of Allura walking into her room.

 

“Yeah?” She asked as Allura looked around the room, taking in the mess.

 

“I, uh… I wanted to talk to you about… something.”

 

“Okay…?” She was only listening with one ear while she was still typing away on her computer.

 

“It’s… about the clones.”

 

Pidge paused, “what about them?”

 

Allura hesitated at first before saying; “ earlier I saw the one with the scar threatening Keith, while I haven't seen the one with the weird hair all day, I don't know what he's doing but I don't trust him or any of them, even Lance is acting differently!”

 

Pidge was looking at her now, “and what do you want me to do about it?”

 

“I want you to keep an eye on them, and if they do anything then I want to you to lock them up, maybe do some of those tests you said you wanted to do, I don't care,” Allura shrugged as she looked around with a look of boredom.

 

Pidge licked her lips as she thought over what she was about to say, “Allura, I know that you’re probably right, but… they haven't done anything, I think that maybe we shouldn't be so rude to them. I mean Shiro trusts them-”

 

“He only trusts them because Lance is his lover if he wasn't then Shiro would have agreed with me,” Allura quickly said.

 

“Yeah but-”

 

“Pidge, will you do as I told you, or do I have to do it myself?”

 

“I… okay, I’ll do it,” Pidge eventually said.

 

“Good,” Allura smiled as she left the room with a distraught Pidge looking after her.

  
  
  


Shiro yawned as he stretched, though when he heard someone grumble he quickly went still as to not wake them.

 

He had forgotten that Lance had dragged him out of his bed last night so he could sleep in their room, saying he was feeling like cuddling and that the other's were asleep.

 

So here he was, with Tuyan cuddling into his side while Avel had attached himself to his arm.

 

But Lance was nowhere to be seen.

 

Shiro wanted to go looking for him but sadly, he was still trapped between Tuyan and Avel.

 

_ ‘Why would Lance leave?’ _ He thought to himself.

 

He let out a sigh as a thought suddenly came to him. He was probably homesick, it wasn't the first time he had left suddenly because his thoughts became too much.

 

Shiro had tried to get Lance to talk to him, but Lance refused to burden him with his problems.

 

He stiffened when Avel groaned and his eyes fluttered slightly.

 

Shiro gently shushed him and took his other hand up to brush through his hair and over his cheek, trying to get him to go back to sleep.

 

It seemed to work since Avel slowly calmed down again.

 

He was about to sigh in relief but quickly caught himself before he could make the same mistake as before.

 

He knew that he should get out so he could get to Lance, but he was kinda trapped right now…

 

In the end, he slowly managed to wiggle out of the cuddle pile, by moving Avel and Tuyan so they were cuddled up to each other instead of him.

 

Taking one last look at them, he finally turned towards the door and looked out into the hall.

 

Shiro knew that there was only one place that Lance would go when he was homesick.

 

So he didn't bother to look any other places, and before he knew it, he was standing in the doorway and looking over at Lance who was looking at the stars.

 

He made sure that Lance could hear his steps so he wouldn't get scared when he walked over and sat down next to him.

 

They sat in silence for a bit, Shiro looking over at Lance, taking in his neutral expression as he stared out into space.

 

“Are you okay?” Shiro finally broke the silence.

 

Lance sighed, “I’m sorry, I don't know why this suddenly happened,” he sighed again “I guess it might have something to do with the fact that I don't have the other's to talk to about this to, so… I guess my thoughts became too much to deal with alone.”

 

Shiro tucked Lance into his side before speaking, “you know that you can still talk to them right, I know that they wouldn't mind, and you can talk to me too if you want to.”

 

Lance just hummed, his eyes still looking out into the deep empty space surrounding them.

 

Shiro knew that he was supposed to comfort Lance in this situation, but he couldn't help but look at the stars glinting in Lance’s eyes, and he knew that sometimes you didn't need words to comfort someone, sometimes it was best to sit in silence and comfort someone instead.

 

So, for a while, they just sat there and looked out into the stars, in each other's arms.

  
  
  


Tuyan slowly blinked his eyes open.

 

It was cold, that was the first thing he noticed when he woke up.

 

He was alone.

 

He slowly sat up in bed, taking in that he, in fact, was alone in the room.

 

Where were the others? Why weren't they there? Had something happened?

 

Had the Galra taken them?

 

As soon as he thought that, he quickly jumped out of bed and looked around for a weapon.

 

But then he quickly shook his head, no, he would have noticed if the Galra showed up.

 

But, where were the other's then and why had they left without waking him?

 

He decided to go look for them.

 

The hall was silent and cold, he should probably have put on some slippers before he left his room. Well, too late now.

 

It was creepy, the only sound being his footsteps and silent breathing.

 

But wait, he stopped when he heard a noise.

 

What was that?

 

He stopped and listened.

 

There it was again.

 

It sounded like… voices?

 

He quickly moved towards the sound, hoping it was someone he knew.

 

Not long after he started to be able to hear the words that were being shouted.

 

“Oh shut up, why can't you just leave me alone!?”

 

The voice definitely sounded familiar.

 

“Why can't  _ I _ just leave  _ you _ alone!? You’re the one who found  _ me _ !”

 

Tuyan slowly walked over to the door that the voices were coming from and peeked inside.

 

It was Avel and Keith, arguing  _ again, _ Though it seemed a lot worse than it had been yesterday.

 

They were full on screaming at each other.

 

Tuyan decided that he didn't want his teammate and someone he viewed as his brother, to fight so he took a step into the room and shouted, “hey-”

 

Just then Avel took a step towards Keith as well.

 

And then something green and glowing shot over towards Avel. Avel saw it but wasn't quick enough to dodge it, and before Tuyan could do anything, Avel was suddenly screaming in pain.

 

He was being electrocuted.

 

By the green Bayard.

 

All Tuyan could do was stare as Avel collapsed.

 

Even Keith looked shocked, and maybe a little guilty.

 

Just then Pidge appeared, Tuyan was too out of it to notice though, all he could see was Avel lying completely still.

 

He looked dead…

  
  


_ Tuyan was worried about Avel, the Galra had just taken him when some guards came to fetch him for the arena. _

 

_ He didn't want to go in there, but he knew that if he didn’t, he would either be killed, tortured, or something could happen to Lance and Avel. _

 

_ He would rather die than let them be hurt more. _

 

_ He was standing in line with some other prisoners, waiting for their turn to be let into the arena. _

 

_ To be let into their death. _

 

_ He recognized one of the aliens, but everyone else were strangers, of course, he didn't actually know them, but he knew that he had seen them before. _

 

_ Just as he thought this, something happened. _

 

_ One of the prisoners panicked and ran. _

 

_ They didn't get very far before they were suddenly shot. _

 

_ And to make it much worse, when they fell, they fell so close to Tuyan that their limp hand touched his foot. _

 

_ And they were staring up at him with dead eyes. _

 

_ Tuyan was frozen as he looked down at the bloody face. They were dead. _

 

_ Normally the guards would have gotten rid of the body, but they seemed to enjoy the horrified look on his face. _

  
  


Tuyan was still frozen, it was almost like back then, a body lying so still that you could only believe that they were dead.

 

“Pidge, what the- you didn't have to do that, he didn't do anything…” Keith was shocked that the small paladin would do something like that, “we were arguing, not fighting…”

 

Pidge was about to respond, but then she noticed Tuyan standing in the doorway.

 

She was about to get into a defensive position, but then she noticed his horrified expression as he stared down at the body on the floor.

 

She furrowed her brows, she had seen that expression on someone before.

 

Shiro?

 

But why would he look so horrified, had he seen her shock him, did they have some kind of connection?

 

Could they feel when one of them were in pain?

 

“Hey… are you okay-” She cut herself off when he looked up and stared at her, still with the same horrified expression.

 

It was almost like he wasn't fully there. Like he was seeing something else.

 

She noticed when he was getting into a stance to run, “hey, wait-”

 

He ran.

 

Pidge looked over at Keith who was glancing between her, the one who just ran, and the one lying on the floor.

 

She sighed and walked over to the unconscious person on the ground, she had to make sure Allura didn't find him first.

  
  
  


Tuyan was running down the hall, he could feel terrifying tears start to build up, he had to find Lance and Shiro.

 

But what if they had been shocked too? What if they had been taken?

 

He should have stayed, he should have protected Avel instead of running away like a coward.

 

He really was a coward, wasn't he…

 

He almost slipped when he finally found them.

 

Shiro seemed to hear when he entered since he turned his head to see who had appeared.

 

His eyes widened when he saw the frantic looking Tuyan in the doorway, looking like he was about to have a panic attack.

 

He gently laid Lance down on the ground and stood up, Lance seemed to be asleep.

 

Or maybe he was dead too.

 

“Tuyan, what's wrong? What happened?” Shiro asked as he gently grabbed him by the arms to hold him up.

 

It appeared to do the opposite since Tuyan fell to his knees as soon as Shiro’s hands brushed against him.

 

Now Shiro was definitely worried, “Tuyan! What happened? Please tell me!”

 

“Avel, he…” Tuyan couldn't finish, he was too out of it.

 

Shiro wanted to ask what happened to Avel, but he knew that Tuyan needed him to calm down and comfort him.

 

_ ‘It looks like I’m gonna have to comfort two people tonight’ _

 

“Tuyan? Can I hug you?” Shiro asked.

 

Tuyan slowly nodded, so Shiro was quick to wrap his arms around Tuyan and tuck him under his chin.

 

Shiro gently rocked him from side to side and whispered gentle words to try and calm him down.

 

He heard something from behind him, but he was too occupied and with Tuyan to pay attention to it.

 

“Kashi?” It was Lance who was calling his name with a sleepy voice, but Shiro decided not to pay attention to the nickname, for now, he just looked back at him and nodded towards Tuyan.

 

Lance seemed to be awake enough to notice something was wrong. So he quickly crawled over to his distressed brother, “hey, Tuyan, what's wrong?”

 

Tuyan looked up when he heard the sound of Lance, and as soon as he saw him, he was quick to try and get to him.

 

Shiro quickly let him into the hug.

 

A few minutes passed where they were just holding each other. When Tuyan finally looked up again.

 

“They- the other's- Avel-” He tried to get out, but when the other's heard how it was going, they quietly shushed him to get him to take it slow.

 

Tuyan took a few more breaths before trying again, “the- the paladins… they took Avel…”

 

What…?


	15. Chapter 15

Shiro was thundering down the hall, ready to find Pidge and teach her a lesson.

 

No one, other than him gets to touch Avel and the others.

 

But honestly, these words were much kinder than what he was thinking. He was furious, and if he found out that she had hurt him… he wasn't sure what he would do.

 

He also wanted to know why she had done it, there had to be a good explanation, but what could it be?

 

He didn't stop or slow down when he heard footsteps running up to him from behind.

 

“Shiro! Wait!” Lance yelled as he tried to grab his arm to stop him.

 

He finally managed to get a hold of it and tried to pull him to a stop.

 

Shiro turned to him, and Lance flinched slightly at his expression but other than that didn't react.

 

“What? We have to get Avel-”

 

“I know,” Lance cut him off, “but first we have to take care of Tuyan, look at him!” Lance pointed behind him at Tuyan who was slowly walking up to them and looked like he was about to start to cry.

 

Shiro’s expression quickly softened as he took in Tuyans state.

 

He knew that he had to help Avel, but right now Tuyan was the only one he was actually able to get to and help, so he decided that he was going to comfort Tuyan before finding Avel.

 

He slowly walked over to Tuyan as to not scare him, Tuyan looked up when he saw someone coming closer.

 

Shiro decided to kneel down to be the least threatening as possible, he looked up at Tuyan and reached out slightly, “Tuyan, can I hug you?”

 

Tuyan looked at him for a few seconds before lurching forwards into his arms and wrapping his own around him.

 

Lance looked at them with a sad smile, he looked down the hall to check if anyone was there before walking over to the two people on the floor.

 

He slowly wrapped his arms around Tuyan from behind and rested his face on the back of his neck.

 

He could feel Tuyan shudder slightly, but other than that, he didn't react.

 

In this position, he noticed that Tuyan had slightly longer hair than he had, though it was still nowhere near as long as Keith’s mullet.

 

They could feel Tuyan slowly relaxing as he listened to their calm breathing and the thumping of Shiro's heart under his hand.

 

They would be fine, they just had to find their missing piece.

  
  
  


Avel’s eyes slowly fluttered open, one of the first things he noticed was that he was sore all over.

 

The other thing took him a few seconds to fully understand.

 

He was in a pod.

 

And he was alone, and cold, and oh god, what had happened?

 

Had they been attacked by the Galra? Was he back on a Galra ship?

 

Was he back there?

 

He couldn't come up with any other explanation.

 

He was back with the Galra.

 

No, it was worse, he was back with the druids, he didn't want to go back there, he wanted Shiro, Lance, and Tuyan.

 

Had they been captured by the Galra as well, were they here?

 

That thought quickly slipped from his mind when he tried to move and his knee hit the side of the pod, he didn't want to be there, he wanted to get out.

 

He  _ had _ to get out.

 

He started to panic as his hand desperately searched for a way out, he could almost hear the druids talking about what the were going to be doing next.

 

He had to get out of here, he didn't want to be here, he didn't want to get experimented on again.

 

It hurts.

 

He couldn't breathe.

 

He felt like he was about to pass out.

 

He tried to curl into a ball to try and protect himself, but there wasn't enough room, all that he succeeded in was scraping his knees, but he didn't pay attention to that.

 

_ ‘I don't want it to hurt again’ _

 

_ ‘Why couldn't it be someone else? Why me?’ _

 

_ ‘Why does something always happen to me?’ _

 

_ ‘Stop thinking so selfish, what about Tuyan? What about Lance?’ _

 

He was gripping his hair so tightly that he threatened to pull some of it out.

 

He heard something, so he stiffened, he knew that the guards didn't like if he resisted or if he made too much noise, the only noise he was allowed to make was screaming.

 

“What are you doing? Stop it! Pull yourself together!” The voice was muffled, but he could still hear it clearly.

 

“Allura! Stop it, look at him! He didn't even do anything! Why can't you just let him out? We can keep him in a cell if you want to, jut let him out!” The other voice was just as muffled as the other one had been, though this one was slightly louder than the other, why were they yelling? Were they mad at him?

 

Never make the druids mad. It never ends well.

 

He didn't remember, but he was pretty sure that, that had been how he had gotten his scar.

 

The two voices continued to yell at each other, but Avel couldn't catch the words, he was too busy trying to get his breathing under control, even though he knew he was never going to succeed, so he changed tactic, he begged to whatever god was out there that it wasn't going to hurt too much.

 

He wanted to go home, he wanted his friends.

 

He wanted his family.

 

He didn't hear when a door opened, nor did he hear when voices started shouting. There were more than there were before, had more druids arrived?

 

Had Haggar arrived?

 

The shouting continued for a while.

 

Avel flinched at the sound of skin getting slapped, he had expected himself to get hit, but he didn't feel anything against his cheek.

 

Had someone else been slapped?

 

Why?

 

Suddenly the pod opened and Avel fell forwards into awaiting arms.

 

The person holding him seemed to realize that he was panicking and struggling to breathe since they quickly tried to get him to calm down.

 

There was something familiar about the voice whispering calming and soothing words in his ear.

 

It took a while, but eventually, his vision cleared enough so he could see the figure leaning over him.

 

Shiro.

 

He was looking down at him with a worried expression.

 

Avel slowly blinked, “Shiro?”

 

Shiro gave him a small and reassuring smile.

 

Avel’s eyes went over to where he could see some other people standing.

 

Tuyan was glaring at Pidge with a look that told her to stay where she was, while Lance was glaring down at Allura who was sitting on her knees and holding her red cheek while staring up at him.

 

Had Lance slapped her?

 

Was that what he had heard?

 

And why? What had she done?

 

After Shiro had made sure he wasn't hurt and that he was okay, he helped Avel stand up.

 

When Lance and Tuyan saw him they gasped and ran towards him so they could collect him in their arms and hug the life out of him and then never let go of him again.

 

At first, it was just a normal hug, Shiro had taken a step back so they could have the moment to themselves. But then something… weird started to happen.

 

A white glow seemed to appear in the places that they were touching, and then they seemed to…

 

Melt together?

 

Before he knew it, he suddenly had  _ one _ body stumbling into him, so he was quick to catch them.

 

It was Lance.

 

But… where were the others?

 

Were they…?

 

“Guys?” He asked and looked down at them.

 

Lance looked up, one eye seemed to be slightly brown while the other one was slightly green, but it might just have been a trick of the eye since it disappeared before he could get a good look.

 

Pun not intended.

 

“Shiro? I- we…” He seemed confused as he tried to tie some missing piece together.

 

His eyes widened when he realized something as he looked himself over, “we’re back together…”

 

Shiro looked confused for a second, but then realization suddenly dawned at him.

 

He couldn't help the smile that was steadily growing on his face, and before he knew it, he was suddenly spinning them around in his arms enjoying the emotional and happy laughter in his ears.

 

When he sat them down, he grabbed their face in his hands and looked into their blue eyes, those sky-blue eyes that were filled with happy tears.

He slowly leaned forward and pressed his lips to theirs, feeling them kiss back, he couldn't help but smile into the kiss.

 

When he pulled back, he leaned his forehead against theirs and looked into their deep eyes.

 

“So, I can't believe that all this time, all we had to do was for all three of us to hug each other,” Lance laughed.

 

“But… haven't you already tried that?” He was pretty sure that he could remember moments where they all had been hugging.

 

“Not  _ just  _ the three of us, you were always a part of it,” Lance pointed out.

 

“Oh…”

 

“What is going on?” They turned when they heard Allura’s voice, “are the clones gone?”

 

Shiro growled at her, she just refused to acknowledge the truth.

 

Lance just sighed at her, before looking at Pidge.

She was looking at them with a calculating expression, she at least  _ seemed _ like she was trying to understand, while Allura just jumped to the first conclusion that came to mind.

 

“How about… we call the others, and then we can explain?” Avel appeared and said.

 

It was honestly so comforting and nice to see them share and be able to change between each other.

 

It was so familiar and nice to see again.

 

Pidge and Allura seemed to have a staring contest about who should go and get the others, eventually though when Allura saw the looks she was getting from Shiro and Avel, she decided that it was going to be her.

 

When she left, an awkward silence fell over the room.

 

“Sooo…” Pidge started.

 

“Leave it for when the others get here,” was the answer she got.

 

“Okay…” She said quietly.

 

Another couple of minutes in silence passed before the door finally opened.

 

Keith and Hunk seemed surprised when they saw Shiro, and who they believed to be Lance.

 

Coran had surprisingly been sleeping, so Allura decided not to wake him.

 

“What’s going on? Where are the others?” Keith asked, and by the others, he, of course, meant  _ ‘the clones’ _ .

 

“I’m not sure, but I believe that they are right, there,” Allura replied as she pointed at Lance.

 

Hunk and Keith looked confused.

 

“I think the easiest way to explain it, is; they fused,” Pidge said shortly.

 

Keith and Hunk both slowly turned to Shiro and Lance and then promptly stared at them for a few seconds, then Hunk yelped and ran behind Keith to hide.

 

Not that it was doing much since he was taller than Keith, “what does that mean!? Are they evil? Did they take over Lance to use his body to try and fool all of us!?”

 

“You’re already a bit of a fool, so… yeah…” Tuyan coughed, which just seemed to make Hunk even more scared, “I’m just joking, relax.”

 

That made him relax slightly since that was a little more like the Lance he knew.

 

Shiro rolled his eyes with a small smile, it was good to see them joking around again.

 

Now they just had to try and explain it to the others and then everything would be okay.

 

Right?

 

Allura coughed to get the others attention, “I think you… two?” She seemed unsure, “have something to explain to us.”

 

Shiro and Tuyan shared a look, and then Tuyan gave him a small signal to show that he was out of this conversation.

 

The others didn't seem to notice when Tuyan dropped out and Lance took his spot.

 

Lance bit his lip, before taking in a deep breath and deciding to just say it bluntly.

 

“…I guess you can say I have a bit of a personality disorder… or, well, that's what other people call it, I don't really like when they use that word but-”

 

“Wait, what!?” Keith cut off his rambling.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry that I haven't been updating, life has been hell and I had no time to write, and the few times that I did have time, I didn't know what to write! Anyway, I am not giving up on this and I promise that I will finish this, I just ask for you to be patient with me, please...

About a week had passed since the rest of the team found out about them, shortly after the reveal they had taken time to really explain things, they all had very different reactions.

 

Allura didn't believe them.

 

Keith was suspicious.

 

Pidge was confused and curious.

 

Hunk felt betrayed…

 

Lance, Tuyan, and Avel were starting to see why it would have been a good idea to tell them earlier.

 

And Shiro was being an amazing and supportive boyfriend as he stood by their side, holding their hand.

 

Later when Coran had found out about them, he had surprisingly been okay with it, of course, he looked like he had a lot of questions but he kept quiet for now, which they were all very grateful for.

 

After it all had calmed down a bit, Shiro took his sweet time to look them all over.

 

They mostly looked like Lance except their clothes seemed to have fused as well. They were now wearing Avel’s shirt, Tuyan’s pants, and Lance’s jacket.

 

Lance had complained about how they looked really emo now.

 

And they all heard it when Avel decided to mutter a small ‘like Keith’.

 

Keith just glared and walked away.

No one had really wanted to talk to them after everything. Hunk and Pidge still tried to talk to Lance, but it quickly became awkward when one of the others said something.

 

Coran talked with Lance like normal, but whenever Tuyan or Avel said something he would keep talking to them, but they had noticed how he became slightly more hesitant and quiet.

Like he didn't know what to say and how to respond.

 

Shiro was getting tired of how everyone was acting and he could see that it was taking a lot out of Lance, Tuyan, and Avel.

 

He wanted to help.

 

But he wasn't sure how…

  
  


Hunk was standing in the kitchen currently in a race against time as he tried to get something ready before he needed to get everything out of the oven.

 

The problem was that he didn't have enough hands to get everything ready in time.

 

He heard the door open behind him but he didn't have time to turn around to check who was walking in, “hey, could you help me? I need you to steer that for me,” he said and pointed to a bowl that was waiting on the counter.

 

“Uh, oh okay, yeah sure,” Hulk froze and turned his head when he heard the familiar voice.

 

Lance was walking over to the bowl not looking at Hunk so he didn't seem to notice how he had stopped to look at him.

 

Or was it even Lance? Maybe it was one of the others?

 

He had half a mind to turn back to what he was doing.

 

They continued to do this in silence for a while, but then the timer started to beep and it sent Hunk into a frenzy.

 

“Shoot” he muttered as he turned towards the oven, he was in such a hurry that he didn't notice how he accidentally pushed a glass bowl over the edge.

 

Though he did notice when something suddenly swooshed in to grab it right before it could hit his foot and get smashed into a billion small pieces.

 

He looked down and saw Lance holding the bowl as he stared at it with wide eyes, then he looked up at Hunk, still with wide eyes.

 

Wait, he recognized that hair…

 

With furrowed brows, he turned in the direction that Lance was supposed to be standing and steering the bowl.

 

And Lance was still standing there, in fact, there were two Lance’s standing there, one holding the bowl and the other one steering in it.

They were both staring at them as well.

 

“Uh… you two okay?” The one with the scar asked, unsure.

 

“Oh… uh, yeah?” He looked down at the one who was slowly getting to his feet while holding the glass bowl, “are you…? Are you three…?” He wasn't sure who he was directing the first question at.

 

“Uhh… yeah?” Lance asked, “hey, Tuyan, you okay?”

 

“Yeah…” Tuyan said slowly as he sat the bowl down onto the countertop again.

 

It was silent after that.

 

“We can split up again!?” The one with the scar suddenly screeched.

 

Lance jumped since it had been yelled right into his ear, he turned towards him and glared at him. They just gave him a sheepish smile.

 

“Yeah uh, you two- you can add that now,” Hunk said, unsure, and pointed at an ingredient that needed to be added next.

 

Lance slowly nodded and reached over to grab it and then proceded to add it into the mix.

 

Tuyan was awkwardly standing there, but then he seemed to realize something, “shit!” He yelled as he ran over to the oven and opened it, that was when Hunk saw the smoke that was coming out of it.

 

Before he could do something though, Tuyan quickly pulled on some oven mitts and reached in to pull out what was currently burning, he was quick to set it on top of the oven and wave away some of the smoke to see how bad it was burned.

It was very obviously burned, but it still seemed edible so it wasn't too bad.

 

He let out a sigh of relief before turning back to Hunk, “why had you planned on taking it out so late!?” He yelled, “you should have taken it out earlier!”

 

Hunk just sighed and walked over to him, “trust me, I would have taken it out earlier, but alien gastronomy is really weird. I literally only put it in a minute before you guys came in. It apparently cooks so fast that it only needs to be in the oven for a few minutes.”

 

Tuyan looked at him for a second before turning back to the still teaming dish, “that’s weird…”

 

“I know right!?” Hunk agreed.

 

They continued to talk about and list other weird alien dishes and deserts, not noticing how Lance and Avel were smiling smugly behind them.

  
  
  


Pidge was sick and tired of her height…

 

She couldn't reach  _ anything! _

 

She was currently standing on her toes, trying to reach a tool that  _ someone _ had put on the top shelf.

 

_ ‘Damn height…’ _ she thought as she silently cursed everyone on this damn cursed ship that was taller than her… Which meant everyone, even the mice since they would find a way up there somehow.

 

Maybe she should just ask someone else for help…

 

She sighed since it didn't seem like she had much of a choice.

 

“You okay there?”

 

Pidge jumped when she suddenly heard a voice from behind her, she quickly turned around and came face to face with one of the people she least expected.

 

_ Lance. _

 

She stared at him for a few seconds, in the back of her mind she noticed the small pearl of sweat that ran down the side of his face, was he nervous?

 

Why?

 

Well, if she thought about it then none of them had been very nice towards him-

 

Then she remembered what she did to Avel… that was his name, right?

 

Why did she do that?

 

She wanted to apologize but she wasn't sure how.

 

Then she realized that she had just been staring at Lance, had he said something? She didn't remember.

 

“Uh… Are you okay?” Lance slowly asked and leaned back a bit.

 

Pidge blinked and looked down, “yeah… sorry…”

 

It was silent for a bit, but then Pidge was suddenly reminded about the tool that was still taunting her up on the shelf.

 

“Hey uh… Lan-” she cut herself off before she could say his name, “could you maybe… get that tool up there? Please…” she pointed at the shelf and looked down.

 

Lance looked at her for a second before looking back up at the shelf, he blinked before going over to the shelf and reaching up, he even had to stand on his toes, but even then he still couldn't reach it.

 

He sighed and shook his head but then he seemed to suddenly get an idea and he looked back at her with a smug smile.

 

Why was he looking at her like that?

 

And before she knew what had happened, three Lance’s suddenly stood in front of her and one of them were trying to reach the tool again.

 

Oh god… it was the one that she had electrocuted and trapped, and now he was helping her.

 

He was barely able to reach it, but in the end, he managed to get a hold of it and take it down, when he turned to give it to her though, he hesitated and his proud expression crumbled.

 

He avoided eye contact as he gave it to her.

 

Pidge hesitantly took it.

 

“It… it’s a weird tool… what does it do…?” It was so quiet that she almost didn't hear it but she did look up when she heard him speak up.

 

“I’m sorry what?”

 

He sighed again and looked up, though he still avoided eye contact, “what does it do?”

 

“Oh! This? Well… if I have to be honest I don't really know that much about it…”

 

His head shot up at this, “wait, what?”

 

Pidge gave an ashamed chuckled, “yeah uh… I actually just use this end because it reminds me so much of a screwdriver,” she turned it so one of the ends was turned up so he could see, “and Hunk keeps taking all of the other screwdrivers so I kinda had to find something else…”

 

He furrowed his brows at this and leaned a little closer, “well if you ask me it looks like it could be used as a wrench as well…” he seemed unsure.

 

“It’s confusing right!?” Pidge screeched, but instantly felt bad when he flinched back, “sorry…”

 

“No, it’s fine…” it seemed like he wasn't sure how to respond to that.

 

They stood there in silence for a bit, not sure what to say, but then Pidge sighed, she had had enough.

 

“Avel, right…?” She hesitantly asked.

 

He looked up as soon as she said his name, “yeah…”

 

This time it was Pidge’s turn to look down, “I’m sorry…”

 

“What?”

 

“I’m sorry… for, you know… electrocuting you and then trapping you in a pod and all of that…”

 

“Oh, right…”

 

It was quiet again.

 

Pidge sighed again, “can you forgive me…?” She knew that it was a long stretch and she knew that the answer probably was going to be no, but she couldn't help but hope that the times that he had seen Lance be kind towards everyone, even her when she was stressed and frustrated, had been Avel.

 

“…” he didn't respond and Pidge felt her hope crumble, “I… I’m willing to forget for now… but I can’t forgive you just yet…”

 

Good enough.

 

“Thank you, I promise I’ll make it up to you!”

 

Avel still had a pained expression on his face, “yeah… though it might be a little harder than you think… it really freaked me out…”

 

Pidge quieted a bit, “yeah, I uh… I saw. Do… do you want to talk about it?”

 

Avel lightly shook his head, “no, not really... though…” he trailed off in the end.

 

“Yeah?” Pidge asked.

 

“You might be on the right path towards me forgiving you if you allow me to join in your next science project,” he seemed really excited as he said this.

 

Pidge narrowed her eyes, “do you know how to code…?” She asked hesitantly.

 

“Yep.”

 

“Wait really?” Pidge didn't believe him.

 

“Well, I wouldn't really call myself an expert, but I can code a little bit, I thought it was really interesting so I thought myself a little bit, though I might need some training…”

 

“That’s awesome! How did I not know that!?” Pidge yelled.

 

“Heh, well it’s not really something that I just go out and throw around like that-”

 

“We kept telling him that he should help you but he just wouldn't listen to us-” Lance was cut off when Tuyan hit him on the top of the head, “he’s also really shy around people that he doesn't know that well, and since he doesn't have us in the back of his mind he kinda went back to that state-” “well, I think it’s time that we leave you two nerds alone so you can keep talking about stuff that we don't understand. Bye!” Tuyan yelled as he dragged Lance with him.

 

Avel and Pidge glanced at each other before bursting into a fit of chuckles.

 

They would be okay.


End file.
